"If they played the whole game like this, we wouldn't be watching overtime."

I had the wonderful fortune of bringing along some old co-workers to this evening's match-up, and that gem came from my friend about midway through the overtime session when it seemed that either team was bound to score. I couldn't have agreed more by the statement.

I don't understand the mentality of this team and their desire to wait until the last minute...or the end of the season, to start playing with fire. Ha!

Needless to say, this game seemed so chaotic to me. An overly bouncy puck, crazy line combinations and odd rushes seemed to dictate the odditiy of it all. It wasn't until Luca Sbisa had the grave misfortune of head butting (apparently this guy has no regard for keeping his pretty little face intact), that I was convinced this game wouldn't end normally. Ultimately, this game took a lot of out of me. I won't even pretend to analyze what we witnessed other than to say, at least we got that damn extra point.

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I’m not really sure at what game we’re all supposed to start panicking throwing in the towel giving up on the season looking ahead to October, but I think we’re really close.

If you’re on the side of those who feel the Ducks have a chance for the postseason, this game might be one of the most important…and then Wednesday’s game, Friday in Detroit to start a super long road trip, the month of March…you get the idea.

The question is, do THEY get the idea? I know we’ve been hearing them talk about the importance of winning since the beginning of the season and thanks to their fine efforts in the month of January, they’ve given us a spark of hope that I don’t think many were prepared to receive. However, it is hard not to question the stability of these Ducks after that awesome overtime loss to Columbus on Friday.

For those of you who are hoping for Anaheim to continue on with their amazingly disgusting brand of hockey, a potentially earth shattering trade deadline and the chance at a super high draft pick, well then I guess you’ll be secretly hoping for a Ducks loss at the hands of the Calgary Flames this evening.

No matter what destiny you feel this team is headed for, the positive aspect for both arguments is that this season is still undecided. Barely. Bruce Boudreau claims he does the math everyday and that both he and the team still want to win. I suppose we’ll have to see how true that statement is over the course of the next few games.

Here’s what I want. I want to finish this season feeling like the team gave it their all. I’ll have to disregard the first half of the season when reflecting on this year, of course, but I want to feel like when all is said and done I can say, "you know, they really fought for it out there." I want to feel like, even though this team isn’t the best team, they actually tried to be better than they were. They showed up to battle and, even though they were bested, they were still a group to be proud of. Yes, January made this bitter pill of a hockey season so much easier to swallow, but I’m really hoping the Ducks can still add a bit of sugar.

GO DUCKS!!!

The Columbus Blue Jackets, the worst team in the NHL, had one things the Ducks have struggled to produce a majority of the season - tenacity. We saw moments of it tonight from the Ducks, but not the sustained push that Columbus had. The Jackets have nothing to play for at this point except their number one draft pick. The Ducks are playing for their playoff lives. One point is sometimes OK, but it's certainly not when you're playing a team that you should be able to beat.

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This could be the most difficult game preview I've ever had to write. What do you say about this game? The Ducks have been bad a majority of the first half, and are lucky that Columbus has been even worse. It's the polar opposite of the Superbowl - the Suckybowl.

The Ducks should annihilate Columbus tonight, but I have a feeling they won't. It's not because they aren't a marginally better team. It's because the Ducks don't know how to play to the level of teams worse than they are. It's easy for the team to get motivated for a challenge like San Jose or Philadelphia, but how do you get psyched to play a bottom dweller? In these games, the Ducks relax and it's the worst possible thing they could do.

There is one bright spot, though. Jason Blake is back! It's apparent that the Ducks can only survive one game without having him in the lineup before getting spanked like they did on Wednesday. I still don't get it, but whatever. At least we're not Columbus.

Did the Ducks just realize that Jason Blake isn't in the lineup for the second consecutive game? This is looking eerily like the first time Blake was hurt. Win the game after Blake's injury and then suck it up the next game. Hurry back, Blakey!

Conspiracy theories aside, this game was heinous. I loved the Ducks tenacity the first half of the first period and then it all went down the crapper. Actually, I was hopeful going into the 3rd period with the Ducks only being down by two goals. Yet the the Ducks of yore showed up and allowed Dallas to score 36 seconds into the period. What really pisses me off is that Dallas wasn't even all that great tonight. They played simple hockey and let the Ducks make the mistakes. With this team, it's always one step forward, four steps back. Frustrating.

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At work, the back wall of my office is covered in Ducks fowl towels, so it's more than obvious that I am a crazy Ducks fan. (Although I did tell a guy that my favorite color was orange and the Ducks made it easy to post orange things around my office. He believed me.) As I was pretending to be awake at my desk this morning, a couple people walked by and had almost the same thing to say to me, "How 'bout those Ducks? Good game last night. Too bad this isn't the beginning of the season." To which I always give a completely stone-faced, "I know."

As I thought about it more, would I really want to start this season over? No, I don't. For starters, we wouldn't have Bruce Boudreau. He could've ended up at the Kings coach for all we know. His impact alone (even though it took a bit to click) makes me OK with this late resurgence. Another reason is that with desperation comes the greatest hockey. What we see now is desperation. If Andrew Cogliano - son of Stone Hands (Todd Marchant) - is scoring a natural hat trick, you are seeing desperation. The whole team has bought in that they can't rely on the big guns to make any sort of run. And said big guns know that they can't sit back and rely on the depth scoring to have a good night because that's their ticket outta' So Cal.

Yes, it sucks to be looking up in the standings; however, I'd rather be looking up knowing my team is beating the crap out of other teams as they claw their way up. They aren't going to win every game, but if they want even a shot, it starts with division rivals and the magical 4-point games. Dallas snapped the winning streak of the Ducks before the All-Star break. It was a fantastic game by Anaheim that ended in a loss due to a flukey goal. Losing to Dallas 1-0 is really quite outstanding considering the offensive power they have. The Duck have to play pretty much the same game as they did a little over a week ago and just hope that Kari Lehtonin is having an off night.

After an incredibly slow first period that harkened back to all of the miserable hockey the Ducks played in November and December, the Ducks finally found their footing in the second en route to an eventual 4-1 victory. The third line of Andrew Cogliano, Nick Bonino, and Matt Beleskey hustled their tails off and created the first Ducks goal of the game after Mike Smith forgot that he should defend the area in front of the net, rather than the area behind it. Cogs used his speed to create the second goal of the game (with a healthy assist from Smith yet again) and a great touch pass from Bonino just minutes later gave Cogliano his third goal of the period and the first hat trick of his career.

The Ducks then survived a 5-on-3 penalty when referee Dan O'Halloran enforced NHL rule 69.3 and waved off what appeared to be Phoenix's second goal of the game early in the third period. Phoenix would never truly recover, and after exchanging a series of penalties with the Coyotes in the third period, the Ducks iced the game when Teemu Selanne skated the puck into the empty net for a power play goal.

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*Looks around tentatively* Is it okay to talk about this? I sure hope so because I’m going to do it anyway (forgive me Hockey Father).

I know they probably needed it - and I’m sure the time off helped much of the team to recuperate from what was a considerably disgusting first half of the season - but damn…did that All Star break come at the wrong time, or what?

That really leads us to the obvious question that is on everyone’s mind: Can the Ducks keep it rolling after a week away from the rink? If ever we were looking for a test to see if this team has truly become what the month of January showed us, now is the time. On the other hand, it might be possible that the 8-2-1 record was simply a tease. Something to keep Ducks fans hoping and praying that the previous months of embarrassment were simply to test our faithfulness to the organization. While I’m sure some fans have jumped ship and completely given up on this season, now is when the real test of faith and determination kicks in. You know, that whole "dedication" motto they’ve been forced to shove down our throats for the past year.

If this means that every game on the calendar is circled with a fat red marker to indicate do-or-die, so be it. If that means that Jonas Hiller has to continue to play lights out hockey, I’ll be sure to continue to dislike the guy. If it means that only a healthy Jason Blake in the lineup is the key to success, I’ll personally take on the role as his bodyguard and start blocking shots for him (be weary, Blake is questionable for tonight’s game and therefore this will be all my fault). If it means Corey Perry only plays with a mini-stick for the rest of the season…awesome. And if it means Bob Murray has to go on another tirade of threatening to trade every player on the roster, do it!

So, where do they stand coming into this final run? The Ducks have 43 points in 48 games played (17 of those points came in 2012 alone). They’re 13th in the West, right behind tonight’s opponent the Phoenix Coyotes who’ve got 52 points in 50 games. The 8th and final playoff spot is currently being held by the Colorado Avalanche who have 55 points in 49 games. The bottom line is that this season isn’t a runaway for anyone, not yet.

When it comes down to it the team knows the whole idea of a post season is a long shot yet not completely out of the question. They realize it’s up to them to make the playoffs a reality. Maybe they needed the month of January to knock some sense into their brains, to realize the pressures of a February trade deadline and a season running out of track means stepping into high gear.

I really hate to beat you with a dead horse (yes, that is the hilariously disturbing yet incredibly incorrect use of that phrase as delivered to me from my bestie), but losing isn’t an option.

GO DUCKS!!!