Ducks at Los Angeles, vs Kings

It's no secret that yours truly isn't exactly fond of Los Angeles Kings fans. Granted, they aren't as bad as Red Wings fans, and any half-knowledgeable Duck fan can always rebuke by pointing out that the Kings still have yet to win the Cup, but they're still nasty.

So by default, yours truly also isn't too hot about traveling 2+ hours in traffic to the proverbial lion's den to get heckled by Kings fans on their home turf.

However, a Duck friend offered a free ticket to tonight's contest and who am I to turn down free Ducks hockey?

John T. Meyer, of www.pickmyNHLteam.com fame, was also coming along to witness an away game with a small group of Ducks fans.

The game did not have the outcome I'd wanted, but it was encouraging to see the Ducks rally to tie things up in the third, 4-4, and for a while they managed to silence those pesky Kings fans. Unfortunately, victory would not be theirs, and Ducks would fall 4-6 in regulation. Despite the outcome, and despite the heckling, yours truly did get a number of excellent pictures.

So let's just focus on those.


Kings home ice


Warmups


Davis Gaines sings the national anthem


Jonas Hiller did well between the pipes. I believe our D could've done more to help him out.

I will give kudos to Brett Festerling, who played a gritty, hard-hitting game. Festerling was out there on every shift, hitting anything that moved. It was impressive.


Newcomer Jason Blake would pot his first goal as a Duck during the first period


George Parros engages in a long-winded fight with Ivanans in the first


A very loud Ducks fan (standing) in the next section over thoroughly annoyed all of the Kings fans around him with never-ending cries of "Let's go Ducks!" Priceless


Troy Bodie skating by the bench for high-fives after putting away his third NHL career goal


Ryan Carter (pictured) and Matt Beleskey would also score for the Ducks tonight


Staples Center crew replacing a pane of glass that fell after Ryan Getzlaf placed a huge hit on Matt Greene against the boards

Our hometown heroes will try to take some much-needed Western Conference points away from the Kings again Monday night. This time, our boys will be on home ice. And this time, they won't be playing the second of a back to back.

I'm hoping it'll make a difference.

Rinks Tour - Getting to the NHL

While yours truly was busy bumbling about the streets of lower Manhattan, Ducks fans back home were treated to the first of the Rink Tour speaking series. Joffrey Lupul and Ryan Carter spoke in front of an audience of Duck fans and youth hockey players at the Huntington Beach Inline rink about their experiences playing in college and junior hockey leagues.

The following pictures and story graciously provided by my Ducks Twitter pals @HillerNtheNet and @SKeleven, respectively.

Lupul played junior league games with the Alberta Medicine Hats. He talked about long bus rides and a packed schedule of 75 games per year that didn't leave much time for school. (Click thumbnails for larger pics)



On the opposite end of the spectrum, Carter's early hockey career consisted of college league involvement with Minnesota State-Mankato. Playing only 40 games a year, players had more time to focus on school and classes.



Many of the kids in the audience also got a chance to ask Lupes and Carts a few questions. And, as always, the boys were nice to sign autographs for everyone.



To read more about the event, please check out SK's blog post.

Can't wait for more public appearances and insider info from future Rink Tours!

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.