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The Ducks Do Something Different - WIN!


...um...

I guess this is what happens when the Ducks win - I end up pretty much speechless.

Lately, while watching the Ducks, my eyes tend to go through the motions. You know, like the players do. I see one bad turn over and my eyes generally dart to the center of the ice where I see an opposing player blasting to the lose puck for a breakaway. My hockey eyes are stuck on repeat. Thankfully, they gave me something new to look at tonight. It took a good 45 minutes to flip the switch, but it finally happened.

Then, Bobby Ryan made me get out of my seat for the first time in weeks and the crowd woke up for the first time this season.

I wonder though, is this the last time we'll see the "big line" be BIG? Did we really see Ryan Getzlaf shoot AND score? Did Ryan undress another defenseman with those moves? Did Corey Perry's relentless battle for the puck finally win out?

Is it too little, too late? Will it happen again? Was this the last hurrah? I guess it doesn't matter if they win or lose, the Ducks always leave me with questions. Unfortunately, I have a feeling I'll be going through the motions again soon enough.

But damn, that Ryan goal was hot.

Star-divide

Good:

-- Teemu Selanne looks like he's single handedly trying to salvage this Ducks season. Poor guy.

-- Thankfully Selanne has some help in Bobby Ryan. If he's heating up, he's likely the only one.

-- I enjoyed the Finnish line as a whole. It's nice to see players hustling and I always get that from Niklas Hagman.

-- Matt Beleksey falls under that warrior heading for me as well. So many times he's the last guy to make a change and I see him battling between four defenders.

Bad:

-- This means Hiller in the net on Sunday, doesn't it? Great. That thought caused my bestie to say, "I wonder if Ellis is hurt, the post can only save Hiller for so long..."

-- "You suck Getzlaf, you really really suck!" was a sentiment heard from a few gentlemen in my section. That prompted my bestie to bust out this one liner - "I don't think we should be handing out individual sucks. It's a team effort." (She was on a roll tonight).

-- I completely forgot about Andrew Gordon until the third. Ouch.

-- Both good and bad...I'm starting to think Sheldon Brookbank might be the best defenseman we have right now. I'm barely noticing him these days. The sign of a decent D-man (minus that penalty!)

-- This team is completely incapable of playing a full game. I was preparing to write a blog full of "WTF?!" and then they managed to break the spirits of another team who's looking just as desperately awful as Anaheim is.

-- Do they talk to one another? There were a few instances were it seemed like a bit of communication would have gone a long way.

Ugly:

-- Jonas Hiller isn't just giving up soft goals and fat rebounds, he's resulted in scoring his own goals these days.

-- 3 shots in the first period? It never ceases to amaze me.

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Definitely would put Cam being +3 in the good column

Or make a “rare, and probably never going to happen again” column

by Eric_Stites on Jan 7, 2012 12:19 AM PST reply actions  

Plus

Ryan, Perry, and Beauchemin were all at +2

by Eric_Stites on Jan 7, 2012 12:22 AM PST up reply actions  

It saddens me to know that we’re celebrating these type of stats.

by SK eleven on Jan 7, 2012 12:56 AM PST up reply actions  

Yeah but we gotta celebrate the little things…or go crazy or something

by J_Camp on Jan 7, 2012 3:02 AM PST via mobile up reply actions  

Yeah, Hiller didn’t have a game saving stick save in the third.

by Daniel AC on Jan 7, 2012 7:57 AM PST via mobile reply actions  

Its true

Hiller made (makes) spectacular saves about once a game. But he also lets in a softy once a game. And while you could argue that those two even out, the fact is the Defense plays very lazy in front of him vs a goalie that they know isn’t going to be great. If they know the guy in net isn’t going to save them, then they put it on themselves to be better. It might sound silly, but I’ve seen it happen a lot of the time.

by Kevin Riach on Jan 7, 2012 10:00 AM PST up reply actions  

I'm confused

You seem to be arguing both sides here, that Hiller isn’t solid but that the defense sucks. You then say that since Hiller has issues, the defense should be better. But that’s clearly not happening.

And I’m sorry, but I didn’t see a softie in that game. It’s complete bad luck that the puck bounces right back to the side of the net on the first goal. And on the second goal, he made the first stop on a shot where the guy wound up from the circle (similar to Jumbo Joe’s shot the other night). The problem is that our defense didn’t do shit after the initial shot.

by PhantomPretender on Jan 7, 2012 10:42 AM PST up reply actions  

I watch the replay, and actually, the puck bounced off the wall and hit his skate and went under the blade and slid on the line. I still agree it was a bad luck goal, the chances of a goalie making it to the post like he did, and a puck hitting the skate in that manor and going under the blade/skate/pad is like a 1 to 1mil odd.

by Hockey Phreak on Jan 7, 2012 11:47 AM PST up reply actions  

which replay did you watch? I watched the one above, and it looks like the puck jumped over his skate at the post.

by Daniel AC on Jan 7, 2012 12:26 PM PST up reply actions  

I watched the one above also, you may be correct, its hard to tell. Either way, its a bad luck goal and not his fault.

by Hockey Phreak on Jan 7, 2012 1:58 PM PST up reply actions  

You’re saying the Ducks D should play better because Hiller is struggling? I agree with that. They should make a point of making sure to clear some rebounds, because that’ll help Hiller get his confidence back.

He doesn’t make one great save a night; he makes a few. He didn’t let in any softies last game. On the first one, He’s dealing with a screen and didn’t notice the shot until it was practically past him. He gets to the post, the puck jumped his skate and then he was falling back trying to grab it and knocked it in. Of course, that puck was going in one way or the other with Martin alone in the crease.

On the second one, Hiller takes a long slap shot off his shoulder and directs it away from the traffic up front. You could argue he put it right to Tavares, but how responsible should a goalie be for a guy who’s coming down the opposite wing? Where was he supposed to put a puck that was coming in high on the blocker side? He got in his butterfly, directed it away, and then the Ducks got beat in coverage. Hiller squares to Tavares, who is his man, and the D lets Okposo have the slot. I could have scored that goal.

I don’t see either of those being his fault. He kept us in the game and did his job. It was a great team effort last night. Everyone did what they were supposed to do. Hiller had game turning saves, RPG carried the offensive load, the D bent but didn’t break. The depth players provided some energy. Granted, that effort wouldn’t have beat a better team, but overall the Ducks kept it together.

by Daniel AC on Jan 7, 2012 10:49 AM PST up reply actions  

That third period looked like it was straight outta April 2009 or March 2011. Awesome stuff, I hope they keep it up.

by Dixie Normus on Jan 7, 2012 1:42 PM PST via mobile reply actions  

Even when our top line wasn’t scoring they were dominating the play. Great stuff.

If you imagine a salt shaker in your hand, tilt your head back
and act like you're shaking salt into your mouth; you will taste salt if you concentrate hard enough.

by brokenyard on Jan 7, 2012 2:18 PM PST up reply actions  

Keep in mind who we were playing against though. Flash in the pan I’d say, considering how putrid the D has been this year. I’m hoping it continues though.

by JuMowbray on Jan 7, 2012 11:55 PM PST up reply actions  

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