ANAHEIM — Trevor Zegras was ready. He played with Ryan Getzlaf long enough to know that a cross from the left wing was possible at any time. When he came in the second period on Saturday, Zegras accepted it and threw the puck past Kings goalie Jonathan Quick.
Zegras’ goal was the Calder Trophy-caliber 22nd of his season and was his 58th point, breaking the Ducks’ franchise record for rookies that he shared with Bobby Ryan. Zegras pointed to Getzlaf immediately after scoring a power play goal, thanking his retiring teammate for the assist.
“Not much to be completely honest,” Zegras said when asked if the record was meaningful to him. “But I think individual records come from good teams, don’t you? I can’t score on my own. I’ve played with a lot of good players since I’ve been here. Some are still here and some are gone.
“So, I think it’s kind of a compliment to them.”
Zegras was also ready in the third period. He had a protracted fight with Carl Gundstrom of the Kings. Zegras had played enough games this season to expect a physical challenge from an opposing player and was ready to drop the gloves and trade blows.
A fight would have been a first at any level of hockey.
“I was ready,” Zegras said. “It felt like we were wrestling for five minutes.”
Zegras’s teammate Dominik Simon interceded and landed a couple of rights to Grundstrom’s face before Grundstrom tossed him to the ice and the linesmen separated them. Grundstrom was penalized for cutting and gouging. Simon was penalized for roughness.
“It’s good that Dom stepped in,” Zegras said.
When asked if he knew what to do in a fight, Zegras said, laughing, “I have an idea, yes. Grab the shoulder. Hug him. Go down. I don’t know. Just watch ‘Getzy’. … It’s important to stick together, especially with the position we’re in and the number of games we have left. When you see guys defending each other, it’s good to see. That kind of stuff resonates.”
Getzlaf defended his teammate Josh Mahura after the Kings’ Arthur Kaliyev checked Mahura on the back of the head after a confrontation in the closing seconds of the Ducks’ 4–2 loss. Getzlaf avoided a penalty, but Kaliyev was given a five-minute major cross-check and game misconduct.
Mahura was penalized for rudeness.
Also, on Sunday, the NHL fined Kaliyev $2,235.42, the maximum allowed under the current CBA, for matching Mahura. Neither Mahura nor Getzlaf received additional disciplinary action from the league’s player safety department for their duties.
INJURED GRANT
Derek Grant, who had been playing in a line with Zegras and Gerry Mayhew, suffered an unspecified upper body injury during Saturday’s match and was unable to return to the match. It wasn’t immediately clear what happened to Grant, who played only five at-bats during 3:02 of ice time.
“It’s not good,” Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said.
Grant did not play in Sunday’s game against the St. Louis Blues. The Ducks were already without Sam Carrick, Jakob Silfverberg and Max Jones due to injuries. Grant’s availability for the Ducks’ final regular-season games Tuesday in San Jose and Friday in Dallas was uncertain.
Reference-www.ocregister.com