Goalies just try to blank out the past

Essential for an NHL goaltender are quick reflexes and an endless well of courage.

A short memory helps too. That is how Jean-Sebastien Giguere copes with a bad game.

“The key is to forget about it,” Giguere said. “We’re all human and we’ll make mistakes. We’ll all go through tough times. I’ve been there many times.

“The key thing is to come out of it a better goalie. Learn from it and be mentally stronger and tougher after you have been through it.”

Giguere knows of what he speaks. The veteran’s first regulation loss this season was a nightmarish outing Wednesday against Philadelphia in which he gave up five first-period goals in 11 shots.

The Ducks’ other netminder, Ilya Bryzgalov, has had his own troubles of late.

After two abbreviated performances in which he totaled only four saves in eight shots, Bryzgalov made 24 stops Friday in a 4-3 shootout loss to Chicago but took the blame in giving up a game-tying goal in the third period.

A day later, Bryzgalov realized that he had to put his recent games behind him.

“It’s pretty important,” he said. “Because if you remember it for a long time, bad games, bad goals, it’s not very good for you because it’ll chase you into the next game. And then you’ve got problems.”

Giguere said the most important thing a goalie must do after a loss is not bring his game home.

“I try to forget about it as soon as the game is over,” Giguere said. “Move on right away.

“Sometimes it’s easier said than done. Even a good game or a bad game, you’ve got to leave it at the rink.”

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Assistant coach Newell Brown took up a significant part of practice to work with the two power-play units, even though the Ducks are sixth in the league with a 20.4% conversion rate. Teemu Selanne gave his team a B grade in that area.

“We have to do a better job as far as passing and entries” into the offensive zone, Selanne said. “I think it’s pretty solid. But still I think we can do better. A lot of times we get our job done, but it’s not as easy as we think.

“We have to take more pride in that. Everybody knows how important it is.”

TODAY

vs. Phoenix, 5 p.m., Ch. 56

Site -- Honda Center.

Radio -- 830.

Records -- Ducks 13-2-5, Coyotes 6-13-0.

Record vs. Coyotes -- 2-0-0.

Update -- Going into Saturday’s games, the Ducks’ Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger were the two leading scorers among NHL defensemen with 19 and 18 points. Phoenix center Yanic Perreault has five goals and two assists in seven games since joining the team on Oct. 29.

Tickets -- (877) 945-3946.

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