ANAHEIM — In Saturday’s game against the Kings, Nick Ritchie made a play that carried a lot of impact and factored in the Ducks’ victory over their bitter rival.

Ritchie saw Kings goalie Jonathan Quick play the puck behind his net and hustled to pressure him. The play wasn’t just effective, it made a difference. He got the puck away from Quick and sent a pass out into the slot area for his linemate, Ondrej Kase, as the goalie remained woefully out of position.

Kase deposited the puck into an empty net, giving the Ducks a 3-0 lead that later came in handy when the Kings scored twice to make the game close. But it was the kind of impactful play Ritchie made that Ducks coach Randy Carlyle wants from the big winger more often.

“It’s not about a little more,” Carlyle said in plain-spoken terms. “We just have to see that every day. This is black and white for Nick Ritchie. The information has been transferred to the individual. That is what we need on a consistent basis night in, night out.

“We need his complement to our group. His physicality, his play-making ability, his body checking. All of that and, if necessary, defending our teammate when the time calls upon.”

Safe to say, the Ducks expected all that would also translate into more production than the three goals and nine assists Ritchie has delivered in 39 games. This wasn’t the development they expected after a first full NHL season where he had enough promising moments and contributed 14 goals and 14 assists.

Looking at his first half, Ritchie knows it wasn’t what he wanted.

“A lot of ups and downs, I thought,” he said. “I had a couple injuries and kind of missed some time a little bit. Kind of had tough times coming out of those. Overall, I think it was sometimes a little bit of a struggle just with that kind of stuff and obviously with my play and kind of getting back into it.

“Now I can start feeling better. I took a deep breath at that halfway point. I think I’m ready for a big half.”

The Ducks will take that. If he can click with Kase and center Adam Henrique, opponents will have to respect a third line in addition to the trios led by Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler. But there’s long been a big if with Ritchie, who’s capable of big moments like his Game 7 game-winner against Edmonton.

“I think I’m obviously a player that can help this team and play a decent to big role,” Ritchie said. “Part of that comes with playing emotional, playing physical. Driving the net. Just all those things that big wingers do. Hopefully I can do that every night.

“Obviously you’re not going to have your best every night but if I can do it as much as possible, then it’ll help for sure.”

FINE DEBUT FOR BROWN

J.T. Brown gave the Ducks what they wanted in his first game with them after being claimed off waivers. In just under 10 minutes Monday, Brown had three hits, one takeaway, one shot on goal and got an assist on Chris Wagner’s second-period score.

“I think he came as advertised,” Carlyle said. “He was on the puck. He was physical when he had to be. He acquitted himself very well.

“We see integrating him into the penalty-killing unit at some point here in the not-too-distant future because that’s part of his makeup and part of the toolbox that he brought with him to us.”

Brown called it a “crazy 48 hours” between the time he was put on waivers by Tampa Bay and jumped into the Ducks’ lineup without the benefit of one practice. The five-year veteran was thrilled to make his debut on the holiday to honor Martin Luther King.

“Obviously Martin Luther King did a lot for us,” said Brown, an African-American and Minnesota native. “And to be able to be playing on his day, it’s definitely special and to be able to just kind of look back and see what he’s done.

“I’m not going to say I’m anywhere near him but he’s somebody that I look up to and I want to strive to make a positive impact on my community.”

PENALTY PARADE

The Ducks continue to make regular visits to the penalty box and it is only widening the disparity they face in the power plays that are issued. The NHL’s second-most penalized team has had a league-low 122 man advantages while dealing with 168 shorthanded situations.

The latest example was Monday when Colorado had six power plays to operate on and the Ducks had two. Colin Wilson delivered a key goal on the advantage that restored a two-goal lead for the Avalanche.

While Carlyle wants his team to get their penalties back down to a more manageable three or fewer, there’s another way he sees where they can close the gap.

“We can do a better job of drawing penalties,” Carlyle said. “We’ve been guilty of not getting inside enough and not controlling the puck in the offensive zone for stretches of time. Because usually that’s what happens.

“If you play a lot of the game in the offensive zone, usually the opposition is going to have to commit some sort of foul to restrain you or stop you. Specifically yesterday, we haven’t done a great job of that.”