DANIEL:
For everyone who thought it was too good to be true, you were right. The Ducks didn't bother to show up to their last game before the brief holiday break. Former Duck Ilya Bryzgalov blanked the Ducks turning away every futile effort that was sent his way. The real star of the game though, was Phoenix's team defense. The Ducks had no time to move the puck or be creative with their offense at all. The power play was inept and Carlyle shuffled his lines endlessly in hopes of generating anything that even looked like offense.
Carlyle broke his usual routine and allowed Jonas Hiller to play the second of back to back games. It was a big mistake as Hiller let in a couple of soft goals that let the Coyotes stretch their lead and bury the Ducks for the rest of the game. Not a lot of positives to report, other than the Ducks go on holiday and that this game might just be a bump in the road. Hopefully the Ducks will demonstrate some more grit against San Jose and attempt to keep up their recent winning ways.