ANAHEIM – Brandon Montour is the real deal.
After being called up for part of last season from the AHL San Diego Gulls, Montour earned a permanent slot on the Anaheim Ducks’ roster and he is making the best of his opportunity.
As a fast-skating rushing defenceman with a howitzer for a shot, he has become one of Anaheim’s most lethal weapons on the blue line.
But Montour is also dependable in his own end protecting the Ducks’ goal.
Saturday night in Tampa Bay, Montour assisted on the Ducks’ first goal and then wired a rocket from his favourite spot on the edge of the faceoff circle for his fourth goal of the season to date, and his third assist.
That assist came on Rickard Rakell’s goal scored at 10:13 to give the Ducks a 1-0 lead. Montour had two cracks at it from the same spot just inside the faceoff circle to the right of the Lightning goal.
He got all of both shots but it was the second one that did the damage, scoring high to the stick side on Peter Budaj.
That made it 2-0 as the Ducks went on to defeat the Lightning 4-1. The Ducks were good on two of four powerplay opportunities and Montour was in on them both.
Ten games into the season, Montour is second in Anaheim point-getters behind Richard Rakell, very impressive considering Montour is a defenceman.
The Florida Panthers took an 8-3 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night.
The Ducks wrapped up their four-game road trip Sunday in Carolina against the Hurricanes, which the Ducks won 4-3 in overtime.
Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf was struck in the face by a puck on the first shift of the game. He went to the dressing room for treatment before coming back for six more shifts, but he did not return after the first intermission. Carlyle said Getzlaf made the decision to not return to the game. “We just felt it was in his best interest to be evaluated by our doctors to see what the issues are,” Carlyle said. “He didn’t feel comfortable going out there, so he couldn’t play.”
The Ducks host the Toronto Maple Leafs this Wednesday night at the Duck Pond.
