No champagne bottles were uncorked, and no streamers fell from the rafters at the Honda Center. And there certainly was no silver chalice in the building Monday night.
But that didn't mean the Ducks weren't in the mood to celebrate another win over the Ottawa Senators.
The Ducks ended their longest homestand of the season with their sixth consecutive victory, taking an impressive 3-1 decision in the first meeting against the team they won the Stanley Cup against nearly nine months ago.
Todd Bertuzzi and Corey Perry ended long scoring droughts in the first period to get the Ducks started, and Scott Niedermayer added a key insurance goal in the third to back Jean-Sebsatien Giguere's 24-save effort as they stayed one point ahead of third-place San Jose while picking up two points on first-place Dallas in the Pacific Division.
The Ducks also won six in a row back in January. They have now won 11 of 12, with the only loss coming to Dallas at the start this seven-game home stretch.
"I guess you'd have to be somewhat satisfied with the record during this homestand," Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle said. "It's not often you get to run the table.
"There's no easy game in the NHL. By no means was this easy. I think it's a credit to the work ethic and commitment our players have put in."
It seemed as if the Ducks picked up right where they left off against the Senators in June as their hard-hitting style on the forecheck forced a shaky Ottawa defense into committing several bad giveaways in the first period.
Ultimately, they managed a 2-0 lead with goals against former Ducks backup Martin Gerber in their first six shots.
Perry chipped the puck past Ottawa defenseman Luke Richardson to Ryan Getzlaf. Getzlaf threaded a clean pass to a waiting Bertuzzi, who zipped a one-timer past Gerber.
The goal broke a long drought for Bertuzzi, who went nine games without finding the net and had just one in his last 17 games.
"It was basically set up by Getz," Bertuzzi said. "Getz came down the wing and I think he froze Gerber pretty good. He threw it over and it was just a matter of getting it on the net as hard as I could."
Perry added to the lead with the first of their two power-play goals at the 15-minute mark of the first when he got his stick on a point shot by Niedermayer.
The 22-year-old winger had come up dry of late as well. Since taking 26 goals into his first appearance in the NHL All-Star game at the end of January, Perry had two goals in 14 games.
