...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.
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.