Ducks at Philadelphia, vs Flyers

File this one under "F" for "Finnish Flash."

After our hometown heroes' glorious victory in Boston two days prior, I was hoping the Ducks would be hungry for more of that winning buzz as they took on their former teammate Chris Pronger and the Philadelphia Flyers Saturday night.

It would be the first time the Ducks would share ice with Chris Pronger since the trade that brought Joffrey Lupul and Luca Sbisa to Anaheim, and also the first time that Lupes and Luca would see their former teammates. Additionally, it would be a homecoming for my boy Bobby Ryan, who grew up a local Flyers fan.

Expectations were high all the way around.

One definite expectation, it was going to be a very physical game. Both the Ducks and the Flyers are known for their extra-gritty style of play. Sure enough, off the very first puck drop, fans were treated to three periods of fast-paced action.

As was seen in the Bruins game, Coach Carlyle mixed up the penalty killers, often having members of the top scoring line out there on the man-disadvantage.

Jonas Hiller, who looked incredible in the last game, continued to hold up his team in this one with save after amazing save. Considering the number of breakaways that the Flyers managed, I'm glad we had the goalie who's stronger against shootout bids on net! And that's not to take anything away from J.S. Giguere, whose stronger suits compliment Hiller's weaknesses giving our Ducks one of the best goaltender tandems around.

Ray Emery, in net for the Flyers, made some great saves against our Ducks offense as well. Our boys made some excellent plays in front of the Flyer crease, matching the shots on goal of their opponent. Our boys on the blue line did a great job trying to find those shooting opportunities to get pucks to the net and, with the help of Saku Koivu in the faceoff circle, our boys are playing more puck possession.

Yours truly believes that there would have been a heckuva lot more goals scored by both teams in this game if it were not for the respective goalies being on the ball.

I liked how our Ducks started to look during the second period. They took control of the puck again, coming strong on the forecheck, and connecting their passes. Try as they did with numerous shot opportunities, our Ducks fell to a one-goal, and then a two-goal deficit going into the third period.

The second goal, ironically enough, came from Pronger himself, his first as a Flyer. It was his infamous slap shot from the blue line.

Finally, Ducks hit paydirt. Off a beautiful stretch pass feed from Ryan Whitney to a speeding Teemu Selanne, The Flash snaps one short side past Emery. Our boys are back in it, down by only one, with a little less than seven minutes left in the game.

Miracle of miracles, there's a collective team effort that starts with Ryan Getzlaf gloving down an attempt from the Flyers to clear their zone at the blue line. He touches the puck with his stick and shoots it up ice to Scott Niedermayer who quickly sends it across the slot, past a screen of Corey Perry and Bobby battling in the crease, to Selanne who is standing in open ice on the opposite side of the net. Teemu's immediate release sends the puck into the net with, get this, only 16 seconds remaining on the clock.

And you know Prongs saw it happening and could do nothing to stop it.

OT melts into a shootout, and again, I'm happy we have Hiller in net. First up for the Flyers, Briere. Denied!

Perry up first for the Ducks, and he's blocked by Emery.

Next up for the Flyers, Richards. After a couple of fakes, he attempts to slide it past Hiller's leg. No avail.

Selanne's on fire, and he continues with a quick snap shot over Emery.

Gagne's bid is also refused... and our Ducks steal two points away from the Flyers in front of a stunned Philadelphia crowd. Awesome game full of highlight reel goals.


1st, 2nd, and 3rd star of the game (in my opinion), Teemu Selanne!