Anderson outduels Kuemper in Ducks win over Wild

[October 18, 2014]  ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Heading into the season, both the Anaheim Ducks and Minnesota Wild were thought by many to have protracted goaltending battles ahead. But five and three games into their respective campaigns, each of these two Western Conference contenders has seen a young goalie establish himself firmly as the starter.

The Ducks triumphed over the Wild 2-1 in a duel between netminders Frederik Andersen and Darcy Kuemper that unfolded before 17,306 fans at Honda Center.

Anaheim's 25-year-old Andersen, who denied 27 of 28 Minnesota shots Friday, played well enough to send prospect John Gibson back to the American Hockey League. The Wild's Kuemper, 24, stopped 24 of 26 shots he faced in the loss.

"Kuemper played a (heck of a) game again," Wild right winger Nino Niederreiter said. "He kept us in the game. Andersen, there were a lot of wobbly pucks on his side and he made the big saves he needed to make."

Ducks right winger Corey Perry pushed the game-winning goal past Kuemper with 8:22 remaining in the third period. It was a third-chance opportunity following an initial bid by Perry and a follow-up by center Nate Thompson that finally left Kuemper out of position. The goal was Perry's fifth of the season.

"He's playing really strong and their team is really tough to play against," Ducks right winger Andrew Cogliano said. "Defensively, they don't give you much at all."

Andersen made several outstanding saves, including his denial of Thomas Vanek as the left winger weaved into close quarters on an early third-period power play. Vanek had seven shots on goal, but is still searching for his first goal of the young season, thanks in large part to Andersen.

"I had a real comfortability out there with Andersen today," Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said. "He looked calm, he looked like he was seeing the puck very well. When he's like that, it's going to take something special to beat him."

On the Ducks' next possession, Cogliano scored short-handed on a rising backhand shot that beat Kuemper over his glove. The goal, Cogliano's first of the season, tied the game at 1 and ended Kuemper's scoreless streak at 164:04. Kuemper posted shutouts in the Wild's first two games, both against the Colorado Avalanche.

"That livened up the bench and it livened up the crowd," said Boudreau, who shuffled his forward lines considerably in the third period. "I think that sort of propelled us for the rest of the game. Before that, we were being dominated pretty good I thought."

Minnesota took a 1-0 lead when a slight stumble by former Wild defenseman Clayton Stoner allowed left winger Jason Zucker to zip into the offensive zone and beat Andersen to the far side 2:08 into the second period. The goal was Zucker's second of the season.

The Ducks hung around in part because Wild right winger Jason Pominville could not cleanly handle a pair of cross-ice passes for potential one-timers at an open net in the second period. Andersen made every other stop, including an aggressive save on a shot from between the circles by Vanek.

Early in the first period, Niederreiter fanned on a near certain goal on a point-blank shot off a turnover as well.

"It's frustrating, my chance early in the game was huge," Niederreiter said. "I feel like we had a lot of chances like that where we just didn't bear down and that kind of cost us the game."

NOTES: The Ducks placed LW Patrick Maroon and D Bryan Allen on injured reserve Wednesday. ... Anaheim recalled G Jason Labarbera from Norfolk and sent down G John Gibson Wednesday. They also recalled LW Chris Wagner, who made his NHL debut in place of the scratched Rickard Rakell Friday. ... LW Dany Heatley missed his fifth straight game with a groin injury while RW Kyle Palmieri also missed his fifth straight game with an ankle ailment. He has been skating but there is no timetable for his return. ... The Wild inserted D Keith Ballard and RW Justin Fontaine into their lineup for the first time this year. They took the place of D Christian Folin and RW Kyle Brodziak, respectively.

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