Ducks at Edmonton, vs Oilers

The moment is here. The opportunity for our Ducks to exact revenge against Dwayne Roloson and the Oilers. There's no other choice. With Edmonton and Anaheim at each others' throats and inches away from that playoff 8th seed, there's a lot riding on this game.

And I think I've mentioned, these two clubs hate each other.

Appropriately, Jonas Hiller is in net for our Ducks. He's 3rd in the league for goals against average. Our top line (aka "Legion of Doom" as dubbed by Oilers coach MacTavish), is ready to go. Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, and Bobby Ryan start on the ice.

Right off, Ducks make some great plays on Roloson in the early minutes. Todd Marchant with a good attempt, George Parros too. Right off, it's also a physical game, as is always expected between these two teams. Brendan Mikkelson takes a beating, but he learned from his hit in Anaheim (where he'd coughed up the puck right in the middle of the ice, creating the perfect setup for an Oiler goal). This time, Mikkelson keeps the puck along the boards despite getting hit twice and losing his helmet.

He didn't have to learn his lesson twice.

Skirmishes erupt after the whistle blows, and minor penalties are dealt accordingly. There will definitely be fighting during this one, folks.

Hiller's using his face to block shots. Beautiful.

Oiler powerplay when a high-stick off the faceoff makes contact with an Edmonton mug. Hiller stays strong through the 4-on-5, despite possible issues with his helmet. He's had two pucks connect with his mask already, you can tell the Edmonton offense involves shooting high through the net. Unfortunately, Oilers capitalize in the last minute of the power play. They take the first goal of the game.

Right off the faceoff, my boy Bobby has his first NHL fight. Staios pins Bobby against the boards and goes to town. Bobby does well holding his own, however, and gets a few shots in before Staios loses his balance and falls to his knees and the fight is broken up by the zebras.

I want to see how his fellow Ducks react because, really, you can't do that to our star rookie and get away with it.

Immediately off the next faceoff, Stortini and Big George go at it. George joins Bobby in the penalty box, giving him an admiring pat on the head as he sits down.

Wow. And we're only ten minutes into this game.

Ugh. A roughing call on Sheldon Brookbank brings on another man-advantage power play for Edmonton. Be careful, boys, don't get sloppy with those penalties. Marchant painfully stops a shot with his body and looks quite hurt afterwards. But he's back out on his next shift of the penalty kill. What a trooper!

As Brookbank gets out of the penalty box, he grabs the puck, drops it off for Getzlaf and then joins the rush up the ice. Getzlaf drop passes it back to Brookbank, who shoots it through the legs of an Oil defender and past Roloson. It's his first Duck goal and his first NHL goal. What a way to earn it, poetic justice!

Finally, the Ducks' first power play off a too many men penalty. They can't capitalize in the first 30 seconds of the power play, so they'll have to try harder as the second period opens with the rest of that pp.

The first intermission sees a score of 1-1.

Executed beautifully, Getzlaf makes a short pass to Teemu Selanne, who makes a short pass to the Captain in the slot. He quickly slaps that pass behind Roloson, screened effectively by Perry. Ducks pull ahead, 2-1.

Play continues visciously, and poor Bobby takes what looks to be an intentional high stick in the face. It's a double minor, but I think it should have been a 5-minute cuz Bobby's face looks completely beat up.

Bobby's right back out there for the first of his two-minute pps. That pp specialty team is hot tonight, and Chris Pronger slaps in a feed from Scotty Niedermayer and Bobby Ryan. It's 3-1.

On the second of the two power plays, our boys have a little trouble setting up in the Edmonton zone. Ryan Whitney defends a short-handed charge on Hiller by lifting a stick. Scotty Niedermayer does the same on a even-man charge shortly thereafter. They're keeping Edmonton shots on goal to a minimum.

Oiler power play when Marchant gets penalized for tangling with Roloson in front of his crease. This one was a nailbiter, the puck bouncing around like a ball in a pinball machine, with a number of great shots on Hiller. He performs beautifully though, and the Ducks penalty kill squashs that one.

Argh, another Ducks penalty. This time against Drew Miller. During the penalty kill, Marchant takes a hard shot in the chest and appears to be in tremendous pain. Oilers try to take advantage, but Hiller makes an incredible save and Marchant is somehow able to clear the puck before he drops to the ice. The whistle is blown and Marchant is helped to the bench where he's checked out for broken ribs.

Hiller isn't just making saves, he's battling in that crease. There's tons of traffic all around him. He fights hard as the Oilers seem to have taken control towards the end of this period, making numerous shots on goal.

Right before the period ends, Scotty takes the puck down the middle of the slot, passing to brother Robbie on the right wing. Robbie, from a really bad angle, punches it neatly over Roloson's shoulder for his 13th goal of the season.

"Niedermania!" as the radio commentators dubbed it.

This was a surprise goal, as the Ducks seemed to be back on their heels. But hey, we'll take it. Ducks lead going into the second intermission, 4-1.

About four minutes into the third, yet another Ducks penalty to the Captain for tripping. A majority of the power play is spent in the Anaheim zone, sending a line of exhausted Ducks penalty kill to the bench after a long minute and a half. They do it though, and no goals for the Oil on this pp.

Our Ducks are content to concentrate on heavy defense to protect their lead through the last fifteen minutes of the game.

A moment of breathholding as Helmsky gets bumped by Petteri Nokelainen and goes flying into Hiller in the crease. Hiller falls backward into the net as the whistle is blown. Helmsky is seen holding his arm out to Hiller as if to say, "Aww, dude, I'm sorry." Thank goodness Hiller wasn't hurt! No penalties assessed.

Three and a half minutes before the game ends, the Oil somehow get one past Hiller. No defensemen covering the guy in front of the crease. At just before two minutes, that extra Oil attacker is on the ice for Roloson and another goal! Suddenly, we're 4-3.

Oiler coach MacTavish stops the game to call for a stick measurement. I guess he thinks Selanne's got an illegal stick. It's kind of an odd call, considering the Oil have tremendous energy now, what with those sudden two goals and the cheering home fans behind them. Selanne skates back to his bench, a wry grin on his face. His stick is deemed legal and the Oil is penalized with a delay of game call.

Penner, of all people, serves the penalty. Another odd move since Penner is notorious for scoring against his former team. Roloson is out for the extra attacker, just to even things up during the Anaheim power play. Robbie Niedermayer has that empty net yawning in front of him, so he sinks he's second goal of the game with thirty seconds left and seals the win.

Vengence is ours as Ducks outscore the Oilers, 5-3.