Ducks vs Minnesota Wild

A lot has happened between the pipes since the last game I attended! For one, check out the new goaltending tandem for the Anaheim Ducks:


Introducing, starter Dan Ellis and backup Ray Emery

Yup, THAT Dan Ellis. And yes, THAT Ray Emery.

With all due respect to former Ducks goalie Curtis McElhinney, we need someone who can stop pucks and we need him NOW. There's no timetable as to how long it will be before Jonas Hiller is ready to play again, and the Ducks are steadily losing ground in the playoff race.

Ellis flew in the night before and had maybe two practices at best with his new team on Ponda ice. Nonetheless, he would be starting in tonight's game. Needless to say, lots of Duck faithful would be very curious as to how well he'd do.


You can put a Ducks' jersey on him, but his mask still screams "Tampa Bay Lightning"


Emery remains up from the AHL just in case, but I'd much prefer to see him get more conditioning before he has to take over the net


Also back in tonight's game, new daddy Ryan Getzlaf

Pretty soon, he'll be coming to the rink just to get some rest away from the screaming baby!

Ellis came up big on the first few saves. I started to feel that maybe we'd be okay. A few things I noticed about him. Ellis is much more expressive on the ice. He talks to the defense and directs play. He looks much more comfortable in his puck handling skills. He also rallied the boys a number of times, slapping his stick on the ice for momentum. I'm hoping the team develops a chemistry with him.

I thought our offense played well. The Ducks earned their chances to pepper Wild goalie Jose Theodore.


Rookie Brandon McMillan. Keep an eye on this kid


There was no way defenseman Toni Lydman could stop the bids on net from a 2-on-1 that led to the Wild's first goal early in the first

As it became apparent that Theodore was nothing short of on fire tonight, coach Carlyle started to mix up the lines.


Theodore on "forcefield mode"


Ellis in position

The Wild held the lead for a good 25 minutes of play until finally, Bobby Ryan got one under, and behind, Theodore.


Bobby would score his 100th NHL goal tonight, tying up the game, and becoming (I believe) only the 6th Duck to break the 100-goals mark


Cam Fowler, up close and personal

In the third, the Wild would take the lead again with a little over five minutes left in regulation. As our Ducks put 30, 35, 40 shots on goal, those two points felt like they were slipping away with each passing second.


At the 18:00 mark, Francois Beauchemin netted the equalizer

Fans were treated to five minutes of overtime and, when it looked like we'd get the chance to size up Ellis in the shootout, the Wild stole it all away and brought the game to an abrupt halt. With only six seconds left, a major fumble on the part of the Ducks defense resulted in a puck behind Ellis.

Well, at least we got a point. But more importantly, I do feel that things will improve with a capable goalie between the pipes.

Bring on the Avalanche!

Ducks vs Minnesota Wild

It's the Ducks first home game since the forgettable home opener against the San Jose Sharks. Duck fans can agree, we want a do-over. They're up against the same Minnesota Wild team that evaporated a three-goal Duck lead to win in overtime. Duck fans can also agree, we want our two points back.


Koivu versus Koivu, part deux

Right in the first two minutes, Corey Perry intercepts a loose puck in the neutral zone through a bad shift-change by the Wild. He takes advantage of the turnover, speeds to the net, and pops a slick backhander past goaltender Niklas Backstrom.

Our boys, as a whole, were looking real sharp in this first period. It's a welcome improvement from first periods past, where our boys have always been out-shot, out-goaled, out-forechecked, out-faceoffed, out-skated, and basically out-played.

Perry potted a second goal less than seven minutes after his first, off a perfect feed into the slot from my boy Bobby Ryan. Perry whipped the puck around and, using his patented patience, waited until Backstrom went down to shoot over him.

Those waited-out goals by Perry, they are things of beauty, people.


Man of the game, Corey Perry, and NHL On the Fly's "Performer of the Night"

Again, yours truly is loving having offensive forwards on our penalty killing team. There's just a different tone set by having boys like Bobby, Saku Koivu, and Ryan Getzlaf killing penalties. I might go so far as to say it could be a little intimidating for the other team to go up against Getzy out there on a PK. You turn that puck over and a shorthanded goal could only be seconds away. Additionally, our boys did a great job keeping the opposing power play from setting up and taking shots on our net. The Wild didn't get any man-advantage goals.

Speaking of our net, it's Jonas Hiller who got the start this game. He looked excellent out there, making some amazing saves with his lightning-quick lateral movement.


Hillsy tapping his stick on the ice to rally the boys.

Our fourth line even got a piece of the point pie, putting together a simple yet effective play. George Parros kept Backstrom's attention occupied as Mike Brown's rebound was smacked cleanly into the net by Ryan Carter.


Carts, Petteri Nokeleinen, Getzy, and Joffrey Lupul. Carts would pen his first season goal tonight.

Of note, Erik Christensen centered Saku and Teemu Selanne and did a terrific job this game. He had a number of shots on goal, and probably wouldn't have been denied so many times had anyone other than Backstrom been in net. I'd love to see him out there on the second line again, maybe he's the missing link.


Evgeny Artyukhin dropped gloves for the first time this season with ex-Duck Shane Hnidy. Tooks owned, 'nuff said.

The Wild would answer two of the three Anaheim goals, but they wouldn't get the comeback this time. Two points and a win at home for our Ducks, 3-2.


Ducks faithful waited anxiously for Perry to earn his first NHL hat trick, but it was not to be this time.


Ducks celebrate a win with netminder Jonas Hiller.

Ducks at Minnesota, vs Wild

Hoping to forget the awful home opener, our Ducks made their first appearance of a four-game road trip tonight in St. Paul, Minnesota. Hopefully what the kinder analysts had to say would be true: an early road trip gives a team with a lot of new players the chance to bond, thus improving their game.

Some items of interest to look forward to in this game:
- J.S. Giguere will be in net tonight.
- Niklas Backstrom, an amazing butterfly goaltender in his own right, will be in net for the Wild. Offense will have to step it up on both sides to get by these veteran netminders.
- This will be only the fifth matchup of the Koivu brothers. Which team has the better Koivu?
- Andrew Ebbett and Nick Boynton will suit up for the first time this season. Yours truly is quite curious to see how they will do.

The 1st period of the game went scoreless, but I was happy to see that our Ducks didn't look like they were skating through quicksand (as they looked in their opener against the Sharks). Passes were completed, there were considerably less Duck turnovers in the neutral zone, and the forecheck looked good.

Our hometown heroes blew the game wide open in the 2nd period, with three Ducks earning their first goals as Ducks. Joffrey Lupul redirected a one-timer from Ryan Whitney into the net, before blocking a puck with his face later which sent him off for the rest of the period. Backstrom was beat a second time by a quick pass from Corey Perry across the slot to Evgeny Artyukhin, who hammered it home. The big smile on Arty's face afterwards said it all. And the third goal would come from Saku Koivu, off a rebound from James Wisniewski's bid on Backstrom.

It started to look as if our boys had found themselves. Ebbett added a welcomed element of speed and energy to the Todd Marchant-Mike Brown line. Grit and physicality dominated. Passing and shooting lanes were more effectively blocked, and some big hits were made. Jiggy looked top-notch between the pipes with great positioning and few rebounds.

Unfortunately, the 2nd period ended and the 3rd period began. Our boys started to look tired and less aggressive. Big George Parros got worked over in a fight with John Scott, and the game went rapidly downhill with three Wild goals (Koivu, Sykora, Belanger) that brought on OT. Wiz took an ill-timed roughing penalty and the Wild capitalized to win it.

It shouldn't have been. Our Ducks basically threw in the towel with 10 minutes left in the game. The defense isn't strong enough to withstand 10 minutes of continual puck chipping into the offensive zone and then trying to protect against the opponent's rush. Throw in a flat-out dumb penalty and... ugh.

Let's hope for a better outcome Thursday as the Ducks take on the Boston Bruins. If our Ducks can improve as much as they did from Saturday's game to tonight, I think they might actually win the next one. At least, it couldn't be worse than the last time they faced the Bruins (0-6).