Best and Worst: Just Keep Winning

Best: The Offense

Six goals. That’s a lot of goals. The entire roster somehow looked dangerous all night. Even though only the top two lines scored, all four lines created chances. Five of the goals came on special teams.

Worst: Bieksa-Holzer D Pairing

If you are into dark comedy then maybe you would like this pairing. The duo was often caught in the defensive zone and out for some of the most dangerous scoring chances against. It’s great to see the Fowler-Manson and Theodore-Vatanen together, but is it worth it to have this third pair? Time will tell if Randy Carlyle keeps it.

Best: John Gibson

He’s pretty good.

Worst: Lower Bowl Attendance

It is routine for most of the Honda Center lower bowl crowd to be a few minutes late. However even for a marquee matchup against a Nashville team, the expensive seats never completely filled up. Also maybe it was because of the late start game/blowout score, but most of the crowd was gone half way through the third period. Not the best look for the beginning of the season.

Best: Giving the Top Two Lines a Break

Thank you Randy! Getzlaf got the night off, Perry played 13:26, and Vatanen 19:40. Carlyle rewarded the team’s efforts by giving the lower half of the lineup significant minutes. Sgarbossa played 12:26 and Wagner 16:14. Especially given the fact that this game was on the second night of back to backs, the players had to appreciate the minutes being spread out evenly.

Worst: Jared Boll on the Power Play

Up by six and Boll makes it on the power play. No lead is that safe.

3 Stars:

3. Eric Stephens

Yes, the Anaheim Ducks beat writer. He gets it. The entire Anaheim team had a fantastic night and many players were deserving of the third star. Every player contributed, but this tweet is too good to pass up.

2. John Gibson

Gibson continues to have a strong start to the season. He looks much more comfortable than he did last year. His rebounds off his leg pads are more controlled, which makes the defense’s job way easier. Tonight Gibson stopped 28 of 29 shots for a .966 sv%. If he can keep up this level of play, the Ducks will have a chance to win every game he plays.

1. Jakob Silfverberg

The second line now has a combined seven goals through eight games, which is leaps and bounds better than last year. Silfverberg’s two goals (his first two of the season) came shorthanded and on the power play. If he and his line can start producing at 5v5 as well, the Ducks could be a force to be reckoned with.