Off Topic » Deep into their 80th game

ANAHEIM Frans Nielsen Jersey Kids , Calif. (AP) in a season riddled with injuries and setbacks, the Anaheim Ducks still weren’t certain they were heading back to the playoffs.So the Ducks dug down deep and came out with the ticket to the Stanley Cup tournament. And now that they’re in, their hard-earned resilience could be a nightmare for anybody in their path.Ondrej Kase scored the tiebreaking goal on a rebound with 3:56 to play, and the Ducks clinched their sixth consecutive postseason berth with a 3-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday night.Kase secured his first 20-goal season by jumping on a long rebound of Josh Manson’s shot, and Andrew Cogliano added an empty-net goal. Nick Ritchie also scored, while Manson and Francois Beauchemin had two assists apiece as the Ducks officially extended the NHL’s second-longest streak of consecutive postseason berths – a streak they share with Minnesota.”It’s very satisfying,” goalie Ryan Miller said. ”The guys certainly turned a corner. We were grinding from the start.”Miller made 26 saves in his first start since March 9 for the Ducks, who have won eight of 10 in their usual late-season surge.Anaheim also leapfrogged archrival Los Angeles into third place in the Pacific Division, leading by one point with two games to play for both clubs.The Ducks’ streak of five consecutive Pacific Division titles was ended by Vegas this season, but Anaheim’s veteran lineup remains a foreboding matchup for any playoff opponent. The Ducks still have most of the core that reached the Western Conference finals twice in the past three seasons.”This whole year has been a bit of a struggle,” captain Ryan Getzlaf said. ”With the start we had, and the players we had out of the lineup, it was tough to see the big picture at that point. Our guys did a good job battling throughout the whole year. We accomplished one goal we wanted.”Matt Dumba scored a power-play goal and Devan Dubnyk stopped 28 shots for the Wild, who took their fifth loss in seven games during what turned out to be a meaningless contest for them.When the St. Louis Blues’ loss to Chicago ended during the first period in Anaheim, Minnesota was locked into third place in the Central Division, ensuring a first-round matchup with Winnipeg or Nashville.”Both of those teams have had pretty fantastic seasons, and (neither is) really a great option,” Dubnyk said. ”But I think us Gordie Howe Jersey , as a group, have shown that we can play and beat anybody in the league, including both those teams. I think it will be exciting for us.”The Blues’ result also clinched a playoff berth for the Kings, and it meant the Ducks would be able to clinch as well. Coach Randy Carlyle’s team didn’t miss the chance, even while playing without several injured regulars – a theme of the Ducks’ entire season.”You can’t hide the fact that it’s been a different type of year for our hockey club,” Carlyle said. ”But every time people were ready to count them out, they were able to stand up and say, `That’s not happening.”’Ducks goalie John Gibson sat out with an upper-body injury that doesn’t appear to be serious, and Miller coolly picked up his second straight victory after coming on in relief for Gibson on Sunday.Both teams were without their top defensemen. Minnesota’s Ryan Suter is done for the year with a broken ankle, while Anaheim’s Cam Fowler missed his first game since Nov. 19 with a shoulder injury that could require six weeks of recovery.Dumba’s goal in the second period was his second of the season at Honda Center, where he scored the overtime winner for Minnesota on Dec. 8.Nearly seven minutes later, the Ducks evened it by crowding Dubnyk. With Adam Henrique’s help, Ritchie got credit for his 10th goal of the season.”They got a fluke goal to tie it up, I thought, but (in) the third period, they definitely outworked us,” Minnesota coach Bruce Boudreau said. ”It was a great test. We talked about how this is what playoff hockey is going to be like. Maybe it’s a cheap lesson learned.”NOTES: With Fowler out and Kevin Bieksa still recovering from surgery on his left hand, D Andy Welinski appeared in his fifth career NHL game for Anaheim. Welinski had been down in the AHL since Dec. 19. … Minnesota F Luke Kunin had surgery Tuesday repairing a torn ligament in his left knee. He will need 6-7 months of recovery time. … Boudreau lost at Honda Center for the first time in three visits since the Ducks fired him in 2016 after a first-round exit from the playoffs. … Mike Trout attended the game with his family after playing in the Angels’ 13-inning victory over Cleveland earlier in the day across Katella Avenue.UP NEXTWild: At the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday.Ducks: Host the Dallas Stars on Friday.— CHICAGO (AP) — Joel Quenneville knew the deal. After three Stanley Cup titles and nine playoff appearances with the Chicago Blackhawks Authentic Gustav Nyquist Jersey , the longtime coach figured this was a big season for him.“I only think we’re in the winning business and we better win,” Quenneville said on the first day of training camp.Two months later, it was over.The Blackhawks fired Quenneville on Tuesday, ending a wildly successful run that returned the franchise to the top of the NHL after years of heartache.“We want to win,” team president John McDonough said. “We want to re-win. We want our building filled and we want our fans to see an exciting brand of hockey. Sometimes, as painful as it is, you need a fresh start.”The move comes in the wake of a winless three-game trip, extending Chicago’s losing streak to five in a row heading into Thursday’s home game against Carolina. The power play, a persistent problem, ranked 27th in the NHL heading into Tuesday. The Blackhawks (6-6-3) also are allowing an unseemly 3.73 goals per game.“A decision like this isn’t made on one game, one play, or one specific thing,” general manager Stan Bowman said. “It’s sort of a collection of things. Certainly the road trip was concerning. But I think even heading into that, there were some elements to our game where they weren’t where they needed to be.”Assistants Kevin Dineen and Ulf Samuelsson also were let go. Jeremy Colliton was hired as the 38th head coach in franchise history, and Barry Smith, 66, moved from Chicago’s front office to the bench as an assistant coach.Colliton goes from Chicago’s American Hockey League affiliate in Rockford, Illinois Womens Henrik Zetterberg Jersey , to the NHL’s youngest head coach at 33. Blackhawks forward Chris Kunitz, defenseman Duncan Keith and goaltenders Corey Crawford and Cam Ward are older than Colliton, and defenseman Brent Seabrook also is 33.“I have a huge amount of respect for Joel,” Colliton said. “Those are huge shoes to fill. I won’t try to fill them. I’ve got to be myself. And we’re different people, so I’ll bring different things to the table, different ideas to the table.”The 60-year-old Quenneville was the longest-tenured head coach in the NHL. He had another year left on a three-year contract extension he signed in 2016 that pays him $6 million per year, second highest in the NHL behind Mike Babcock in Toronto.He also was the second coach fired in the past three days after the Los Angeles Kings dismissed John Stevens.Whenever Quenneville wants to get back to work, he likely will have plenty of suitors.The former NHL defenseman has 890 wins in 22 years as a head coach with St. Louis, Colorado and Chicago. Scotty Bowman, Stan’s father and a senior adviser with the Blackhawks, is the only man with more regular-season victories.Quenneville took over Chicago four games into the 2008-09 season, replacing Denis Savard after the Hall of Famer was let go by former general manager Dale Tallon. What followed was an unprecedented run for one of the NHL’s Original Six franchises.Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Keith and Seabrook blossomed with Quenneville behind the bench, and the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup in 2010, 2013 and 2015. They also made it to the conference finals in 2009 and 2014.“He’s going to be an icon in Chicago for the longest time, the great things he’s done for this organization, winning three Stanley Cups http://www.redwingsshoponline.com/authentic-jimmy-howard-jersey , so that will never be forgotten,” Kane said.Toews said the players learned of the move Tuesday morning.“We’ve had some pretty crazy highs and you remember all the good stuff, so it’s tough to see a coach and a friend like Joel go,” the captain said.The pressure on Quenneville began to ramp up when Chicago was swept by Nashville in the first round of the 2017 playoffs after the Blackhawks finished with the best record in the Western Conference. Then they missed the playoffs entirely last season for the first time in a decade.Quenneville finishes with a 452-249-96 record with Chicago. He also went 76-52 in the playoffs with the Blackhawks for the best record in franchise history.The dismissal turns up the heat on Bowman, who has made a couple of questionable moves that helped hasten the Blackhawks’ decline. He traded Artemi Panarin to Columbus and Teuvo Teravainen to Carolina in part because of salary-cap issues, and each player has put up big numbers with his new club.“I believe in this roster, I believe in Stan,” McDonough said. “Stan is meticulous, he’s very thorough and when you break down free agents, when you break down trades, some work, some don’t. You’d like most to go your way and over time, they may. But his body of work is excellent. I want him to succeed.”