JEN:
The Ducks were out worked by the Stars. Period.
Following Monday night's win against San Jose, the Ducks were off for three days. While time off is great to heal those aches and pains, the one thing that inevitably follows is rust. From the opening period, the Ducks were completely outmatched by the Stars physical play. There was zero fire and the Ducks ended up playing catch-up within 13 seconds of puck drop as Duck Hunter Loui Eriksson scored on a flukey play. After that it was a lot of missed opportunities and boredom (at least I was bored for a good part of the game).
GOOD
-- Hey! We weren't out shot (36-19) for once! Teemu Selanne and Corey Perry led the firing of blanks (with one exception) at 6 shots each.
-- At least the power play is starting gel...in heart stopping situations. This is why he's the MVP folks.
BAD
-- Harrison Mooney of Puck Daddy surmised that George Parros could be getting a call from the Shanahammer after this hit on Krys Barch. To me, it's waay too much of a gray area for a suspension. Parros is 6'5" in skates. He may be an enforcer but he's not a dirty player (a la Matt Cooke). I didn't see intent to injure, but if this is the new NHL with increased scrutiny on ANY headshots, Georgie may sit for a couple games.
-- Being the league's MVP has its perks. It also causes a lot more attention on the ice. Corey Perry is no stranger to punishment delivered from screening a goalie. More than ever before, I am seeing Perry get absolutely destroyed away from the net. Teams are more keen to knock Perry off his game by literally knocking him off his skates.
-- I have this weird gut feeling that there is something wrong with Lubomir Visnovsky. He might be injured or those shoulders haven't fully healed. He's just off.
UGLY
-- The referees have a hard job, but the no-goal call on the power play was borderline Jim Joyce territory. (If anyone can find video, please put it in the comments.)
-- The defensive paring of Francois Beauchemin and Cam Fowler were a -3 tonight. Sometimes they're really good and sometimes they're really bad. I would like to see Luca Sbisa with Cam again.
-- Speaking of Luca, after playing career high minutes in the pre-season, he saw significantly less ice time tonight with only 12:50.