Last night, Ryan Getzlaf flipped his lid at the end of Anaheim’s 2-0 loss to Buffalo and went after Sabres defenseman Mike Weber.
As Ducks play-by-play man John Ahlers said in the video, the move was born out of frustration. Getzlaf picked the fight even though his team had the goalie pulled and was searching for a pair of equalizing goals -- a testament to how aggravating last night (and this season) has been for the Ducks captain.
Anaheim head coach Bruce said he saw it coming.
“You can’t be in control all the time,” Boudreau told the OC Register. “He’s gone a long time without scoring.
“He might put on a lite bit of a façade to you guys but you got to believe it’s bothering him. Just being a captain and the leader, he wants to score more than anybody. And he’s trying harder. He’s shooting the puck a lot more and it’s just not going in.”
While the Ducks have stepped their collective game up recently -- they’re 8-3-2 over their last 13 -- Getzlaf continues to flatline. He registered just nine points over 15 games in February and is mired in a 17-game goalless drought. All told, the Ducks captain has just eight goals on the season, one less than the likes of Mike Santorelli, Tim Brent, Daniel Paille and Jay McClement.
Getzlaf put on a brave face following the game, calmly describing how Ryan Miller was outstanding last night before saying he and the Ducks needed a big effort this weekend against Calgary and Los Angeles.
But even when he said it, you could tell a season’s worth of frustration had taken it’s toll.