Gameday Recap with video highlights? It’s beginning to look a lot like hockey season. Everywhere you go…
ARTHUR:
The Canucks took more penalties than the Ducks. (Whaaaa?! Say it again. Use a Jamaican accent this time). Me say dem Canucks took mah penalties dan Anaheim.
Wow. Do you believe in unlikelihoods? If only the grown-up Ducks could have this kind of night. Rob Bordson and Cam Fowler opened up scoring on the power play. The Canucks answered on the power play (because well, it’s still the Ducks), and notched one at even strength. Then Maxime Macenauer put in the gamewinner with a wraparound that dangled so hard it could have been hanging from a rear view mirror. The Ducklings added an empty netter to put the Canucklings away for the team’s only win of the rookie tournament.
Pielmeier had a little trouble settling. I’ve said it since I saw him in Bakersfield, but the kid can get a little antsy. He’s the opposite of Jonas Hiller, who is often stiff and slow on a bad night. Pielmeier, naturally more frenetic, seems to have trouble staying set. He tracks the puck exceptionally well, so he usually knows where rebounds are, but so much of minimizing rebounds in the first place is controlling where the puck hits you. I don’t think Bobkov is actually in the mix, despite today’s news, as I think he’ll want some time in London, but I think Timo will have to fight for a starter’s role in Syracuse more than he probably anticipated after the Ducks traded Pogge.
All in all, after three games, Fowler looked good all around. So did Newton to a lesser degree. Clark was solid defensively. There was some great jump form Kyle Palmieri and Emerson Etem, not to mention some jump, jive and wail from Devante Smith-Pelly. I was most impressed by how well the Ducks' lines did whenever two playmakers were on the ice. Nick Bonino, Peter Holland and Nicolas Deschamps had a soft touch when playing with each other, and some of the best Anaheim scoring opportunities, both even strength and with the man advantage, came from their diligent and often coordinated efforts.