via Anaheim Ducks on Twitter.com
Good Morning Orange County,
Last night, in what could only be described as a whirlwind of emotions, the Anaheim Ducks handed the Boston Bruins their first loss of the year. But the game was much more than that. It was a gritty first period, followed by an embarrassment of a second, concluding with some of the best line play and chemistry the Ducks may have played so far. It was tough, throwing shots at the net, and not giving an inch on the offensive attack. To quote a Bruins friend of mine “prioritizing shots on goal and defense, they were playing Boston hockey vs Boston”. So let’s look back to what got the Ducks in the hole, and how we maybe saw a glimpse towards what the true future of the Anaheim Ducks may be.
What went wrong (the 2nd Period)
Starting with the medicine before the spoonful of sugar, we should address what went wrong. And by that I mean most of the 2nd period. It starts with what has been the Ducks achilles heel all year, penalties. First came a cross checking from an unlikely source, that of Jackson LaCombe. With Poitras on the puck for the Bruins, Jackson cross checks him just right in front of the ref, no way that one is getting missed. First real “bad” penalty by LaCombe, who gets sent to the box as it leads to a goal for the Bruins. This goal is not on anyone on the team, it was maybe the luckiest duff of a one timer I can recall. Pastranak whiffs on a one timer and it lands perfectly in the lap of Charlie Coyle to level the game.
Gibson fans look away, because the next major mistake is on him. Grzelcyk gets a pass from McAvoy and fires a shot at Gibby. Standard slap shot from a defenseman, just trying to get a shot on net and more so hoping his team can make a chance on a pad deflection. Gibson clenches on the puck, and it slips between his legs, trickling into the goal. While a goal like that goes in every once in a while, just not a good look from our goalie who isn’t getting peppered 45 shots a night now.
The next calamity comes from something that should’ve resulted in a goal. The Ducks (WHILE ON A POWERPLAY) give up a 2 on 1 that becomes a 3 on 2 for the Bruins. This starts from Johnny Beecher getting a good poke check on Pavel Mintyukov, and the shorthanded rush starts. Great passing from Boston, and Beecher who now has roughly 95% of the net wide open to him from less than 15 feet out, just rings the bar and the Ducks get lucky. All this to say, the powerplay hasn’t performed well for the Ducks. With a 4.17% success rate so far this season, something needs to change if we don’t want to become dead last in PP% again.
The last mistake, at no fault of the Ducks, is that David Pastranak is a hockey player on the Boston Bruin. Pasta was lighting it up against the Ducks, and eventually one was going to go in. After getting a wrister on Gibson, it’s bobbled by the netminder, and Pastranak crashes the net on his own shot, and backhand lifts it in. Boston up 3-1.
Anaheim with work to do, and defense to sharpen up for the 3rd.
What went right (3rd period)
I’m not sure what was said at intermission, but I do know it had to do with something about defense, because the Ducks showed up on that end for the third. Forwards hustling back on defense when a breakout happened for the Bruins, a Russian teenager steering Bruins players to the outside to make them force passes out of and thru awkward lanes, the team showed up. Whether it was Mintyukov forcing Geekie out on an odd man rush or Gibson providing an excellent save on a Pastranak one timer, mistakes were being made up for. This all leads to the last two minutes of the game, where the Ducks played with a man advantage.
The Stick Lift
The first goal comes from Leo Carlsson, but in no way does it start with him. After having the Zegras, Carlsson, Terry line, along with Carrick and Strome accompanying powerplay QB Pavel Mintyukov, out there for the entire 6-on-4, Trevor Zegras makes the play of the game in my opinion. This stick lift is extremely well shown in the Derek Lee clip provided, but it plays in part to a much larger aspect of the Ducks system right now. Z was benched for the entire 3rd period vs Columbus due to a lack of hustle after an offensive zone turnover. He gives up the puck, and then shows minimal effort to get back to fix his mistake. Cronin benches him, and the Ducks still win. So what happened here?
The puck is loose, Zegras can’t get his stick on it, and it finds its way to Pavel Zacha, who starts looking down the ice to kill the game with an empty net goal. Trevor makes up for this with defense, quite literally showing in the quickest turnaround possible to the coaching staff, that he understood why he got benched, and how he isn’t letting it happen again. This is what you want to see from your superstar talent. Humility in knowing they can get better. Willingness to learn from their mistakes and not dwell on them. Realizing how to do the small things and why they matter most. This stick lift isn’t going to be on the scorecard, but anyone who watched this game will tell you that it was single handedly what swung this game from a lost cause to a possible win.
Load Management Won The Raptors a Championship
The final goal of regulation comes from a 6 on 5 chance, where Pavel Mintyukov, still leading the powerplay as a 19 year old, gets it to Terry on the wing, who just gets it on net, hoping some bodies in the way can carrom the puck towards the back of the net. He finds that on a lucky deflection from the Rat Captain himself, Brad Marchand, and we go to overtime. This shift however, I want to focus on something that has been in the craw of many hockey fans, including one Boston fan who was caught on a hot mic with the Ducks broadcast.
Leo Carlsson was on that entire 2 minute shift from 3-1 to 3-3. And for that entire 2 minute shift, he was playing at a high level. This is why we are limiting Leo Carlsson in his games. He is ALREADY a top line center in the NHL, at age 18. If Leo Carlsson is playing over 18 minutes a night and playing every game, who knows if he’s able to keep his legs up for those decisive last minutes. Yes, he’s young. Yes if you asked him, he would say he can play every game. But his legs are worn, he sustained a pretty scary injury just days before the season opener. This is someone you do not rush. You take your time because we want Leo Carlsson to play at a high level for 20 years, not just for the first 20 games. Fans are naturally impatient, but let Leo develop while playing the high level he deserves to be at. Just wait, and do not take the marshmallow.
Ducks go to overtime, and play beautifully from there. Strome loses the faceoff (perhaps he can get some tips from McTavish, who apparently learned everything there is to know about them from Getzlaf), but Frankie V scrambles for the puck. The Ducks hold onto the puck for 30 seconds, before a between the legs Zegras shot attempt that was simply put, the best angle he had on the shot. Ducks lose the ensuing draw, but now Terry scrambles and gets control of the puck. The Ducks play beautiful keep-away from the Bruins for over a minute, only to be broken up by an illegal stick toss from Linus Ullmark. Jackson LaCombe, making up defensively for the aforementioned cross-check, gets the puck away from Jake DeBrusk after the Bruins have the puck for all of 15 seconds in overtime. LaCombe passes it to Leo, who glides down the ice, finds Mason who beats Linus and sends the Boston fans home sad. (And proving one certain Maltese right, yet again)
This win saw the Ducks battle back and rely on their defense to do so. Forwards making massive stops, consistently putting shots on defenders, and just trying to grind out rebound goals to catch up. This was a team win, and a team redemption for the second period. This is what winning hockey looks like. The small plays working. The team battling through a deficit. The players trusting in a system that may bench or healthy scratch them, but knowing it’s in service of their development and growth. The Ducks aren’t world beaters. The Ducks aren’t fighting for a playoff spot right now. The Ducks are a new team, with a new batch of young players, with a new identity they’re trying to learn. And for Duck fans who grew accustomed to bad hockey in the past years, this is new for us too. Trust the system that drafted all 3 CHL defensemen of the year. Trust the system that hired Greg Cronin. Trust the system that made the right pick of taking Carlsson over Fantilli. Trust the system. It’s all we can do.
Anyway, fuck it. Play Sweetness.
via Anaheim Ducks on Twitter.com
(You know their Euro-Beat victory mixes go crazy)