Ducks 2017-18 Player Review - Ryan Getzlaf

With the upcoming season roughly two months away, AnaheimDucks.com is featuring a different Ducks player throughout the month of August (in numerical order). This annual Player Review series will highlight key stats while also keeping an eye on the 2018-19 campaign. Next up is captain Ryan Getzlaf.

He has donned a Ducks sweater for 13 years. As a face of the franchise and the leader of this team, Ryan Getzlaf became just the third player to reach 900 NHL games with the club last season. In an abbreviated season due to injuries (he missed 19 games with a zygomatic bone fracture from November 1-December 9), Getzlaf still racked up 61 points (11g/50a) with a +20 rating in 56 games. He led the NHL in assists per game (0.89) while also pacing the Ducks in assists and ranking second in points.
The 2017-18 campaign marked his eighth season with 50 assists or more, the most of any player in franchise history. He also reached the 60-point mark for the ninth time in his career, setting a club record for the most such seasons by a Ducks player. In addition to reaching the 900-game milestone (February 24 at Arizona), Getzlaf earned his 300th career power-play point on February 6 at Buffalo to become just the second player in franchise history (with Teemu Selanne) to reach the milestone. Getzlaf also became the first player in Ducks history to reach 600 assists and the 41st player in NHL history to do so with one team when he tallied a helper on January 17 vs. Pittsburgh.
When the regular season ended, Getzlaf ranked as the all-time franchise leader in assists (628) and plus/minus (+165), while sitting in second in points (875) and third in games (917).
HIGHLIGHT
Video: DAL@ANA: Getzlaf pots tough-angle shorthanded goal
Among his 11 goals last season was a shorthanded gem that could arguably go down as one of the best the team had in 2017-18. It was the culmination of an incredible penalty kill for the Ducks, who dug themselves a deep hole in a home game against the Dallas Stars on February 21. After Cam Fowler took a slashing penalty 53 seconds into the third period, Getzlaf and Josh Manson took back-to-back delay-of-game infractions at the 2:11 and 2:16 marks, respectively. It equated to 5:57 of consecutive power-play time for the Stars, including 2:03 at 5-on-3.
After exiting the box, Getzlaf joined an exhausted trio of Ducks that included defensemen Francois Beauchemin and Hampus Lindholm, and center Derek Grant. He gained possession of the puck in the defensive zone and chipped it skyward over the heads of Stars players John Klingberg and Tyler Seguin, who had also been on the ice for an extended amount of time. With fresh legs, Getzlaf raced down the ice and tracked down the puck, which fell just above the faceoff dots. Realizing the puck wasn't going to reach him in time, Stars goaltender Ben Bishop bolted out of his crease in a frantic effort to intercept it before Getzlaf got there. But before he could, Getzlaf poked the puck over a diving Bishop, came to a stop and sent a wrist shot into the far corner. The goal put the Ducks up 2-0 and capped off a tremendous PK.
"Difficulty. Luck. Whatever you want to call it," Getzlaf said, on his goal. "It was a great feeling, except I was celebrating by myself. I didn't know what to do. It was flipped in the air, so [Bishop] probably reacted to it late. I just noticed their d-men were out there for a long time, so they were probably going to change thinking I was going off."
Head coach Randy Carlyle added, "It was a game changer in the hockey game. Any time you can kill off a 5-on-3, let alone a full three minutes of a 5-on-3, that takes some courage from our players."
OUTLOOK
At 33 years of age, Getzlaf isn't showing any signs of slowing down. He has led the league with 281 primary assists since the 2009-10 season and ranks tied for third in overall assists (396) since 2010-11. Furthermore, Getzlaf ranks sixth in points (836) since 2006-07. Aside from his facial injury last season, Getzlaf has remained relatively healthy over the past five years, playing 74 regular-season games in 2016-17 and three consecutive 77-game seasons prior. In terms of upcoming milestones, Getzlaf needs just 25 points to reach 900.