Ducks vs. Sharks, round 1 game 5

I could've caught tonight's game at a watch party, but I opted to crash my parents' house instead. Hey, free food and seating in front of a 52-inch HD flatscreen sometimes beats out the draw of fellow fan camaraderie. Although, it will make for a patchy blog post... (my family seldom leaves me alone when I visit)

We're off to a bad start here, Corey Perry in the penalty box for cross-checking and, somehow, Jonas Hiller is even MORE stellar than ever to help our boys kill that penalty.

Ugh. Duck penalties!

At the halfway point, I'm sensing that this game is looking a lot like an amalgamation of our Ducks least impressive performances. Again, THANK GOD for Hiller. He's the only reason why the Ducks are still in this.

Our boys just seem half a second too slow in this game. I don't think this series will end tonight, boys. You'll have to bring it back home and win with your home fans.

Or maybe I've spoken too soon? The third period begins with a Ducks deficit 0-2. A beautiful pass from Andrew Ebbett to Ryan Carter right in the middle of the slot goes in past Evgeni Nabokov for Carter's first career playoff goal.

Good work, boys! Now you have 19 minutes to get one more.

And that they do. Off a perfect pass from the Captain, failsafe Corey Perry fires one in over Naby's glove hand.

Suddenly, we have a tied game, 2-2. I'm glad our boys finally decided to show up and play some hockey.

I'm noticing my boy Bobby Ryan wincing in pain off his last shot, which he still manages to fire onto the net with good force. He's back on the bench still wincing, and is later replaced by Teemu Selanne on his top line with Ryan Getzlaf and Perry. I hope he'll be okay.

Two minutes left in regulation and we're still tied 2-2. There have been big opportunities for both clubs to take that winning goal, but the goaltenders have been huge. I even have to say that Naby's been playing his best game of the series here.

Overtime. The first one this series. It takes about six minutes for a puck to get stuffed and whacked through Hiller's padding. Unfortunately, I was right. Our Ducks will just have to bring this one back home to the Ponda and win amongst a sea of orange playoff towels.