Ducks vs St. Louis Blues

This one wasn't pretty, but it was two points... and we'll take it.

I'll do the post just like the game: quick and dirty.

It was the obligatory St. Patty's Day game, even though it's actually 3/16.


The Ponda ice with an eerie green glow

Goaltender Dan Ellis' new Duck-themed pads and mask came in. He was sporting them during warmups.




Apparently, Ellis is going with a zombie Duck groove

Unfortunately, he wouldn't get a chance to try out the new gear tonight. Ray Emery started.


In his first game start in over a year, Emery held up well

He faced 31 shots, and stopped all but one. Not bad at all, but his rebounds do give me ulcers.

Jason Blake lit the lamp twice. One was a fluky bounce, the other was a sweet redirect off a slapper from Lubomir Visnovsky.

Otherwise, the game was fairly flat. Our boys didn't play a full 60 minutes, but they played enough to beat the Blues.


The boys celebrate a win with Emery


The Ducks break back into the top 8

Here's hoping we can stay there!

Ducks at St. Louis, vs Blues

Our Ducks begin the Eastern portion of their road trip in St. Louis tonight, facing fellow Western Conference bottom feeders, the Blues. Being a cellar dweller isn't saying much in the West, as the teams are so tightly packed that any time can spend time in the cellar with just one or two ill-timed losses.

With that said, our Ducks really need two points here.

The first period has both teams playing rather equally, the Ducks with a number of scoring opportunities but can't capitalize. The Blues can't either, and both Hiller and Mason hold strong.

The first intermission sees a pair of bagels on the scoreboard.

The second period consists of a littany of goal attempts, posts, pipes, and big saves by Chris Mason, but no goals on the scoreboard for our hometown heroes. Yours truly is considering changing the channel.

It isn't as if the Ducks are playing badly. They just can't seem to buy a goal tonight.

Unfortunately, the Blues don't seem to have that problem. They go up two goals in the second and carry the two-goal lead into the second intermission.

At the beginning of the third, the Blues continue to make the Ducks offensive lines work hard. They put another goal up on the scoreboard in the process. Things are looking bleak until about five minutes in, when the Blues defense make a crucial mistake and leave a veritable open net in front of Scott Niedermayer. Corey Perry had run the puck all the way down the right wing, getting it to the Captain while the Blues defense parted before him.

Yours truly is hoping the goal will spark some confidence in our hometown heroes. Kudos to Steve Eminger for some amazing puck protection in front of the crease, helping out his goaltender.

Halfway through the period, Ducks strike again. Dan Sexton works hard to win a battle for the puck behind the Blues net. He scrambles to fire the puck in front of the blue paint, and my boy Bobby Ryan is there to quickly one-time it over Mason and into the top corner.

Ducks fans everywhere are elated as it has now become a one-goal game. Can our boys complete a stellar comeback??

Energized, Ducks spend more time in the Blues zone, increasing their shots on goal this period to twice that of the Blues. Mason comes up big to keep things under control, but he can't stop everything. And the zebras have all but swallowed their whistles. A number of infractions on both sides happen without stoppages in play.

With less than a minute left in regulation, Bobby catches a rebound right in front of the net. Ryan Getzlaf hammers the puck from the point. It bounces off Mason's mask and the netminder can't find it before Bobby has chipped it into the basket.

Suddenly, our boys have at least a point in what was looking like a lost cause only 20 minutes ago.

Sudden death overtime goes without any goals, so we're off to the shootout. Without Teemu Selanne, Saku Koivu, or Joffrey Lupul the starting three become Pears, Getzy, and Bobby.

Pears, using his traditional wide-angle approach, gets one behind Mason. Getzy too. The Blues answer the first three attempts with two of their own, forcing fourth, fifth, and sixth rounds of shooters. We're seeing plenty of shootout first-timers, including Sexton, Matt Beleskey, and Evgeny Artyukhin. Turns continue until the seventh round, with a beautifully unstoppable shot by James Wisniewski.

I never would have taken Wiz for a shooter, but maybe he should be after tonight's performance?

Our Ducks steal, quite literally, two points from the St. Louis Blues, and get a huge boost of confidence for our hometown heroes on their daunting roadtrip.

Let's hope we'll have Koivu back for the team's next contest in Atlanta.

Ducks vs St. Louis Blues

Remember the last time our Ducks hosted the Blues? If you don't, you're lucky. It was a horrible 0-5 shutout.

Needless to say, some payback is in order.

Jonas Hiller gets the start in net, after an awesome win Tuesday night against the hated Detroit Red Wings. Yours truly is excited to see if our boys can pull it together again for two straight wins at home.

On the other side of the ice is Chris Mason, who is in net for the Blues for the second night of a back-to-back. Incidentally, the Blues have a new coach after having sent Andy Murray packing. Not sure whether this bodes well for our Ducks or not, it might still make things interesting. The Blues are doing just as badly as our hometown heroes, and they go into tonight's contest tied for the 12th spot in the Western Conference.

Even though the Blues played (and lost to) the San Jose Sharks last night, I'm impressed by the energy and forechecking pressure of the Blues' forwards. No wonder the Blues are so good on the road. Our boys are matching them step for step and it's an energetic burst through the first period.



The Blues get on the scoreboard first, a short-hander off the faceoff during a Ducks' power play no less. Hiller had no chance blocking that one, as it caromed and changed direction off the shaft of Corey Perry's stick. I'm hoping our boys can overcome the drop in momentum.

Our boys keep the shots on goal coming, however, and both the first and second lines have their chances. Kudos to defenseman Steve Eminger. I'm not always impressed by Eminger, favoring Nick Boynton more times than not between the two, but Eminger does a great job stepping up during this game... at least during the first period. He's sacrificing the body to block shots and making good decisions along the blue line.


My new favorite 1st line consists of Ryan Getzlaf centering Perry and rookie Matt Beleskey

Guys start to mix things up after the whistle and the game gets even more physical than it already had been. Unfortunately, Perry unwisely decides to take himself and Blues' David Backes out of the game for five minutes.


Maybe Pears thought a fight would be a good way to get his team riled up over their one-goal deficit?

Going into the second period, Ducks continue to come on strong. Impressive yet again are the puck-handling skills of Petteri Nokelainen. Nokie has been awesome in the last couple of games, getting good scoring chances because he's been able to play his gritty game while deftly maneuvering the puck around defenders. Keep it up, Nokie!

Ducks draw back to back penalties and earn a valuable 5-on-3 opportunity. Our boys set up a number of one-timers, but can't get anything through to the net before the penalties expire. However, shortly thereafter, Nokie provides the perfect screen for a James Wisniewski slapshot from the top of the left circle.


Wiz's equalizer is his second goal of the season

As we hit the halfway mark of the game, Ducks continue to apply pressure to what seems to be a tiring Blues team. Big hits and battles along the boards come up favoring our boys, and Ducks are leading in shots on goal. On the other end of the ice, Hiller is holding his own with some sharp saves as well.

At this point, yours truly is the recipient of gracious Duck friends once again and can enjoy the rest of the game from the 200 section. The majority of the second period is fairly quiet, with man-advantage opportunities for both teams turning up empty. The score going into the second intermission is 1-1.



Only one minute into the third, Hiller is the recipient of another unlucky bounce. A puck fired absently towards the Duck net ricochetes off of Ryan Whitney and bounces into the net past Hiller.

I think every Duck fan at the Ponda matched Hiller's skyward look of disbelief. The goal, combined with a double minor penalty against captain Scott Niedermayer, have the Ducks reeling back on their heels.

Following a potentially dangerous Blues breakaway (Brett Festerling came up big sliding in and poking the puck away from the charging Blues forward) Saku Koivu jumps on a puck that squirts from a battle against the boards and passes it to my boy Bobby Ryan as he's streaking through the neutral zone.

From where I'm sitting, I see the puck head straight to number 9 with speed. "Go Bobby go!" The next thing I know, the puck is in the back of the net and Bobby is celebrating with a jump against the glass. The replay reveals a perfectly beautiful highlight reel snapshot fired between the legs of the Blues defender, targeted into the top far corner of the net.


Bobby's incredible play earns him the first star of the game

The last half of the period is met with renewed energy from our boys. Tied up, big saves still coming from Hiller, hits still raining from both benches, it's looking like we might be in for some overtime. Our Ducks are applying a lot of pressure in the final five minutes, credit to Mason for keeping his mates in this one.

With less than three minutes left in regulation, Getzy forces a turnover in the Blues zone. Perry plucks the puck away and circles it towards the net, firing on Mason. A rebound results, but Beleskey is there as he crashes the net to chip the puck over Mason.


Beleskey brings the Ponda to life with his game winner and second goal of his NHL career

Time is suddenly on the Ducks' side as our boys take the lead for the first time tonight. Todd Marchant escapes the defensive zone with the puck and is able to evade a Blues defender for the empty net insurance goal.


Marchant: "I've been taking tips from Robbie Niedermayer..."

This one goes down in the books as another Ducks win at home, 4-2. Time to take the winning to the road, boys!

Ducks vs St. Louis Blues

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, I don't really know what to say about our Ducks game against the St. Louis Blues (0-5), so I'll let this picture do the talking.


Ref: "Yeah, you guys didn't show so... we gave the two points to the Blues."
Teemu: "Wait... we had a game last night??"