Ducks vs. Chicago Blackhawks

The Flash is back!!!

And not only that, Jonas Hiller is starting once again in the net even though he started in last night's game against the Phoenix Coyotes. Definitely a strong indication that J.S. Giguere's slump has been well noted by coach Randy Carlyle.

But anyway, how exciting is it to see Teemu Selanne back on the ice?? The home crowd sounded its approval with numerous cheers as he took a spot in the lineup beside mates Bobby Ryan and Brendan Morrison.

Carlyle is also keeping his big scoring line intact. Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, and Chris Kunitz are on the ice together again tonight and, as the game opens, big offense is again the play of the day. Scott Neidermayer is up in front of the net again, playing the more offensive defenseman.

But one thing I'm a little disappointed at, it's the lack of puck time in the Blackhawks zone during the first period. Maybe our boys are a bit tired, but I'm not liking the disconnect between the players. They just seem sluggish to me.

Not like the well-oiled machine that mopped the ice with the Coyotes last night.

But that could just be me. The announcers seem to disagree.

Blackhawks land the first goal, but that's okay. The Coyotes got the first goal last night too. On the first power play of the night, dozens of hits on the Blackhawk goal, but none go in until Chris Pronger fires a slapshot from the blue line which, in the replay, showed to be a redirect by Bobby. This one goes home.

The officials give the goal to Pronger, and award an assist to Bobby, so that's another point for my boy either way. (During the intermission, the officials review the tape and give the goal to Bobby. That's his 11th this month, tying him for the lead in the NHL.)

As the first period continues, I'm getting a bit hot under the collar here. The Blackhawk's goaltender, Nikolai Khabibulin, has a bee in his bonnet and that bee's name is Corey Perry. I dunno what the deal is, but there's lots of bad ref calls and tensions rise quickly because of it. Almost every play ends with guys yelling and sticks in the air.

I'm thinking there's going to be a lot more fighting (and Duck penalties) before the night is done.

And then, the Blackhawks take back their lead. To his credit, Hiller is doing a phenomenal job with saves, but the Ducks defense is a little lacking this time, and Hiller can't stop everything. I think the defensemen are just as riled up as the frontmen... which is probably why they can't help but be up there, in the opponent's face, instead of helping out around the goal crease.

But again, that's just me.

The second period opens, and in the first half there's only one goal. A Blackhawk goal. Damn. The Ducks are having problems keeping possession... and it's totally frustrating for the fans. For this fan, in the very least! Things have cooled, but so have shots on the Blackhawk net.

And then Travis Moen comes through. Burying the puck deep in the Blackhawk goal on a two against one front while the Ducks are short-handed. It was beautiful, people. Beautiful! At the end of the second, Ducks are behind by one.

As for the third period, geezus chryst, I think the Ducks need to take Hiller out for a beer after this game cuz seriously, without him they'd be down so many goals this period. I spent this period on the edge of my seat. The Ducks offense kept the Blackhawks on their toes... that puck spent a lot of time in the Blackhawks' zone, I'm amazed a goal hasn't come of it yet.

Unfortunately, all the Blackhawks have to do is repeatedly clear their zone. The Ducks have to penetrate to even get a shot at the equalizer.

After Hiller leaves the Duck net empty, there's shot after shot on the Blackhawk goal. And a questionable play with a Blackhawk pushing the net off its bearings after the skirmish in front of the net gets a little too hot to handle. But overtime was not to be in this game. Blackhawks hold their lead for the win, 3 to 2.

The definite stars of the game? Both netminders. Undoubtedly so.

Ducks at Phoenix, vs Coyotes

So, our boys should be well rested after the All Stars break, right? At least all but three of our boys anyway. That was the hope of every Ducks fan going into Tuesday night's game.

I also held that same hope. But minimally, I just wanted to be conscious for tonight's game! Having undergone some outpatient surgery this morning, I agreed to come home with my parents afterwards only after they promised me I'd be able to watch the Ducks game in peace.

I did have to compete with Spongebob Squarepants courtesy of my little brother during the middle period, but I caught the crucial goal-earning moments on the rebroadcast. A good thing too, because there were A LOT of goals made by our Ducks in this game! Hell, this is the team that deserves to make it into the playoffs. I dunno who that other team is that's been playing of late, but I'm hoping they won't be back soon.

Incidentally, this game is being played at the jobing.com arena in Phoenix. Yours truly will be in this arena this weekend. Not for a hockey game, but for a metal concert. Hockey game, mosh pit, same difference.

Right off the bat, I'm noticing how much energy our Ducks offensive has. Even defenseman Scott Niedermayer is playing a more offensive defense, following the puck deep into the opponents' zone and having more of an active role along the front lines. The boys look good. They're moving their feet, they're playing a fast game, they're monopolizing on forechecking opportunities. However, the first goal goes to the Coyotes during the first period, who quickly shoot a rebound into the net. To add insult to injury, Sammy Pahlsson takes a penalty for supposedly checking the shooter.

Although to me, it looked like he crashed into him on account of inertia. Either way, it's a penalty that the Ducks must kill. And then, an elbow on Corey Perry which spins him around and knocks him to the ice. No call. Pssshh... what else is new?

Jonas Hiller is looking sharp in the net, making a number of saves in this first period.

And then, with a few minutes left in the first period, Ryan Getzlaf takes advantage of a turnover puck and deftly passes it behind him to Chris Kunitz, who slams the puck home. It's a fabulous play, and takes our boys into the first intermission with a tied game and smiles on their faces.

Within the first minute of the second period, the Ducks take the lead as a Scott Niedermayer slap shot finds its way to the net, chipping off Bobby Ryan and Corey Perry in its path. Off the resulting faceoff, the first fight of the game. And then in the next minute, the Ducks lose their lead to a goal by nemesis Shane Doan.

We're tied up, 2 to 2.

Kudos to Coyote netminder Ilja Bryzgalov in this game. His team would have given up quite a few more goals if it hadn't been for his sharp reflexes. Although, not sharp enough to evade a scramble in front of his goal crease later in the period which results in Kunitz poking the puck through and past the netminder's right leg pad.

And then, Pahlsson wins the faceoff with a quick pass to Chris Pronger, who winds up a big shot that chips off of Rob Niedermayer's stick shaft and into the Coyote net. Just like that, Ducks increase their lead to 4-2 before the middle of the game.

Personally, I'm going nuts watching this game unfold. Keep it up, boys!

The power line appears to be Kunitz/Perry/Getzlaf and the boys spend a lot of time on the ice with the puck as Carlyle takes full advantage of their abilities.

Before the second period comes to a close, Doan manages to slip a puck past Hiller and bring the score to 3-4. But the Ducks take back their two-goal lead as Scotty takes the puck all the way into the Coyotes' zone, behind the net, and quickly passes it in front of the net. It finds Travis Moen's stick and is hit into the net... with one second left on the clock. Incredible!

Gotta hand it to the captain!

Three minutes into the third period, my boy Bobby Ryan becomes the talk of the rink again. A slap shot from Steve Montador is blocked by Bryz, but the rebound bounces to his right and into Bobby's sights. He rushes the puck, hitting it above Bryz at a sharp angle, and into the net. There's word about Bobby being in the running for Rookie of the Year, despite the fact that he didn't even start the season with the Ducks. He still has more points and more goals than any of the other rookies at this point in the season. Hell, whatever the eventual standing, one thing is for certain: the boy is hot right now.

The Ducks lead by three goals with half the period to go. You might consider it a done deal, but considering how things have gone for the Ducks this season, I won't chance jinxing anything until that final horn blows.

After the Coyotes fail to take advantage of another power play, the winning big line scores again, second goal of the game for Perry. Getzlaf buries the puck into Bryz's leg pads, but the rebound escapes to find Perry speeding towards the goal. He chips it in and flips over a Coyote defenseman in the same breath. The Ducks increase their lead to four goals.

And they kept that to the end for a glorious victory. Shots by numerous members of the team, Ducks bring it, 7 to 4.

All Star weekend

(I've done a little decorating around here. Hung some pictures up, that kind of thing. You like?)

Okay okay, call me a rookie. This was my first All Star weekend. And, because my cable provider is a piece of crap, I had to drive out to my parents' house just to enjoy the skills competition.

I would have watched the actual game there too, but I had to work that day.

I've been crawling the Versus, NHL, and Ducks websites religiously the entire weekend, searching for video clips and news bites. I'm a little bummed that I can't find any replays of the game, just highlight videos, but that's okay. I'm amazed that I can actually find a lot of other stuff like pre-game shows, post-game shows, interviews, red carpet highlights, etc. What would we do without the internet??

I probably wouldn't have watched at all if three of our Ducks hadn't gotten invited to Montreal for this. Ryan Getzlaf, Scott Niedermayer, and J.S. Giguere all played as starters in the All Star game. Getz also got a spot in the Breakaway Challenge, and all three got to participate in the Elimination Shootout.

I felt a bit bad for Giggy, going into this weekend in his hometown and all with so many losses under his belt this season. He's in a slump, but he pulled it together to put up a good fight in the Elimination Shootout. I didn't hear/see much about the couple of goals that were scored on him during the game, but I'm kinda relieved he wasn't the final goalie for the West during the shootout! That honor went to the Vancouver Canucks' Roberto Luongo, who I think held up well despite the eventual loss.

Another highlight for me was seeing Scotty make it past two rounds of the Elimination Shootout. Nobody ever expects the defensemen to make it very far in this event, but at one point, he was the only defenseman still on the ice. Go Scotty!

Personally, bias or not, I still thought Getz's Breakaway moves were the most skilled. The Washington Capitals' Alex Ovechkin might have appealed to the audience more (that guy is quite the showman!), but I thought Getzlaf's around-the-back-of-the-net shot required a little more talent than donning a hat, sunglasses, and Pittsburg Pens' Evgeni Malkin's stick. Ovechkin was, in the very least, memorable. And maybe that's good for the sport in the long run.

But I digress...

Even though our boys didn't win any of the categories, and don't even get me started about Bobby Ryan not getting invited to play in the YoungStars game, it was still great fun to watch the skills competition. And I got a feel for some of the other great players in the league this season. There's definitely some talent out there and I wish the festivities of the weekend were more easily accessible to the public who just might be perusing their cable channels.

The NHL would have a heckuvalot more fans and followers. Honestly, I don't think hockey is a difficult sport to get into. You don't have to know diddly squat about the rules of the game to be able to enjoy watching. It moves quickly, it's emotionally charged, and you see some incredible showmanship in most games.

And, in the middle of a fight, sometimes a hockey game breaks out...

Ducks at New York, vs. Islanders

By now, I'm sure you've heard the news. The Ducks lost both back-to-back games against New York, first with the Rangers, then with the Islanders. LOST TO THE ISLANDERS?!? A team riding an eight-game losing streak?!? The worse team in the entire league?!?

Ugh. Talk about losing streaks.

I don't feel like doing the oh-so-sad play-by-play, so why don't we just do a little commentary instead. Yeah, you're gonna have to listen to me blab and spread my opinion around like Country Crock.

It isn't as if the Ducks didn't fight for this one. Their power plays were great, their offense was strong, their defense (well, besides J.S. Giguere, but more on that later) was excellent. They outnumbered the Islanders in shots on goal nearly three-fold, and there were so many Duck pucks ringing the goal posts and dangling inside the Islander crease. I don't think I've ever seen so many close goals. After digging a 0-2 hole in the first period, our Ducks were robbed, people. ROBBED!

Kudos to Islanders goaltender Yann Danis, who chose this game to really come into his own. He made a number of excellent saves, and under continuous pressure, because his defensemen weren't doing a whole lot to help him out. He got lucky a whole heckuvalot as well, but one thing's for sure, he's the reason the Islanders won this one.

He also ended Ryan Getzlaf's 10-point streak. What a goober.

The one goal that the Ducks were able to land was a beauty. An assist from Capt. Scott Niedermayer to Corey Perry, who deftly took the puck down the Islander zone and then a quick backhanded pass to Bobby Ryan who slipped it past Danis for his, count 'em, eight goals in the last NINE games.

Is my boy hot or what?

I have a hunch that, if Jonas Hiller didn't start his turn in the net behind a two-goal Islander lead, he could have helped bring his teammates to a win. And that's not to pay any disrespect to Giggy, but he definitely hasn't been on his game recently. Whether it has anything to do with the loss of his father earlier in the season or something else in his personal life, it has affected his goaltending. Maybe he just needs some time away from the game. Unfortunately, he isn't going to get it anytime soon. Now he has to go into the All Star game with yet another pull and another loss under his belt.

Either way, giving up so many goals has to affect the whole team. They are undoubtedly already frustrated by the losing streak (exception against the Minnesota Wild), and I'm sure this kind of early blow lowers morale. By the third period, the Ducks seem tired. The second was incredibly strenuous, and probably left the boys with too little energy in the third for that equalizer.

Well, there will be a break for the All Stars events which, I'm not even sure if I'll be able to watch the festivities... my crappy-ass cable provider doesn't offer Versus. Maybe it'll be worth the drive to my parents so that I can use their DirecTV.

Hopefully, our boys will make good use of the break and be able to come back with a win against the Phoenix Coyotes.

Ducks at New York, vs. Rangers

Trying to capitalize on the winning lineups from the Ducks game against the Minnesota Wild, we'll start off this game with similar switches to Corey Perry's and Samuel Pahlsson's linemates, and Jonas Hiller in the net.

The New York Rangers are known for their incredible goaltender, Henrik Lundqvist, and honestly, considering Hiller's stellar stats this season, I'd much rather see him in net than J.S. Giguere.

I give my love to Giggy, of course, but I do feel that he's in somewhat of a slump this season. If you're going up against a team who's going to make it exceedinly difficult to score any goals, the least you can do is make it just as difficult for them to score any goals on you.

And that's a lot of what we see in the first half of the opening period. It's a fast and furious game, lots of energy, lots of force. The Rangers get the first power play, after Chris Kunitz gets shoved into Lundqvist, pushing him out of the goal crease. Unfortunately, they capitalize and score off a lucky rebound opportunity.

Shortly thereafter, the Ducks answer with a goal of their own. Ryan Getzlaf fires on goal from the blue line which is blocked by Lundqvist. Pahlsson at the crease takes a pummeling from the Ranger defenders in the area, but gives Bobby Ryan the chance to sneak in from behind as the puck squirts from the crease. And with a deft flick of the wrist, Bobby fires that puck under Lundqvist and into the goal, right before suffering a blow to the head from Pahlsson as he's pushed by a Ranger defender.

Beautiful play! Another point for Bobby, Getz, and Pahlsson.

In keeping with all of the action so far, things step up a notch as Corey Perry sustains a check that drives him headfirst into the glass behind the Rangers goal. Drew Miller, seeing his teammate suffer the hit without so much as a flinch from the refs, more or less a whistle blow, jumps on the Ranger checker as Perry slowly picks himself up off the ice. Sure, it's a roughing/fighting penalty, but this is one of those penalties that is worth taking. You're defending your teammate, you're sending the message out to your opponents that they can't treat your mates that way.

The Ducks pull off a sucessful penalty kill and the first period ends without any other goals scored.

At this point, something funky happens with my recorded telecast cuz, next thing I know, I'm looking at the second period, five minutes in. WTF? Anyway, looks like the Rangers managed another goal, we're 2 to 1 at the game halfway mark.

Can I just say I was right about my hunch that starting Hiller in this game would be a good idea? I'm seeing save after excellent save from Hiller. Like many of his rookie teammates, Hiller is really coming into his own. It's great to see.

With two minutes left in the second period, and on the heels of a fruitless Ranger power play, Perry capitalizes on a beautiful pass from Andrew Ebbett, and skillfully slips a goal past Lundqvist. Absolutely incredible.

The third period opens with another tie, 2-2. Another fight early on, with Travis Moen and the offending Ranger both taking five for fighting.

Ducks and Rangers exchange power plays but with nothing to show for either team.

Also notable, the numerous amazing plays by the younger Duck players. Getzlaf, Bobby Ryan, Perry... and Drew Miller at this point in the third period. He takes the puck single-handedly down the length of the ice, pursued by three Rangers, and tries to force that puck into the Ranger goal. He almost eats the goal post as he's checked and pushed into the goal. Thank goodness he put his hands up right before he made contact with that post. No goal, but a galiant effort nonetheless.

Games like this one get me all fired up because the Ducks are taking so many penalities... and there are so many Ranger offenses that are getting overlooked. It just isn't right, it fires up the Ducks and makes them play like a swarm of angry bees, and just leaves a bad taste in every Duck fan's mouth.

And again, another Ranger power play goal. And at the end, a Ranger empty-net goal. It's a 2-4 loss for the Ducks, but I think everyone can agree, they fought hard on this one.