Friday, March 27, 2009

I'M EXHAUSTED!

Heavy breathing, hair pulling, screaming...you'd think I had a great time!

NOT SO MUCH.

I really don't have the nerves for games like that one. These are games where I don't even have a breath for expletives.

Did anyone else notice the crazy score at the beginning of the game? It said the Ducks were up 1-0 as the puck was being dropped. That stayed the score, until Edmonton completely reversed that and made it 1-0 and then 2-0 about 1 minute later.

54 SOG and the Ducks get 2...2!!!!! SOOOO frustrating. I hate to say that I felt this coming on when they killed Colorado the way they did. I mean, when you get 7 seemingly easy goals against two sub-par goal tenders, it's really hard to imagine doing something similar against a very strong goalie like the man in net for Edmonton.

Even worse is imagining you'll get ANYTHING done when turning the puck over so easily, like in the first 2 minutes. Here's one thing about those goals though...they definitely got the fire burning in the Ducks. They were able to turn it on enough to redeem themselves and tie it up immediately in the second thanks to some crafty play by Ryan Getzlaf. Maybe he had that talk with Petteri Nokelainen as I suggested?

Bobby Effin Ryan really brings a physical aspect to his game, and I love it. He's hard hitting and clearly not afraid to take some shots as he was on the other end of a high sticking call in the middle of the 1st and 3rd periods. That first line...when firing at 100%, could be one of the most threatening in the West. Lets hope we get to see that over the next 7 games (and of course many more in the future)!

Awful turnovers and sloppy play allowed Edmonton to get right back into the game on two very quick goals. The two quick goals to start the game were enough for me to allow JS Giguere to be sent packing, but after a small breather on the bench, Jiggy quickly replaced Jonas Hiller. How random. I don't even think I understand the logic there? I don't care how much of a breather you get during the game, after allowing 2 goals get by immediately, I can't imagine that your mindset is at 100% after that. I don't necessary blame Jiggy for those first two, but I can't say much for the final two he let get past. Hiller on the other hand? Solid.

With as hot as the Power Play has been looking so far, they missed out on so many opportunities. A 4 minute high sticking penalty gave the Ducks so many scoring chances, and yet, they were stopped cold. Edmonton took a few delay of game penalties and really spent a lot of time in the box. Even with a solid 5 on 3 opportunity, the Ducks came up with nothing to show for it. Whats even more damaging about that is the amount of looks they actually had. Usually when the Ducks are setting up and moving the puck well on the PP, they are successful. Tonight they were really doing that well, and couldn't get a damn goal.

OUCH.

I am going to give them this...it was a hard fought game. The first few minutes would have indicated that they did not deserve to win this one, but they fought back with power and I believe it showed. In the end, this game could have definitely been a blow out by the Ducks with just inches one way or another. It seems that Randy Carlyle feels the same way...

“Our effort was there, obviously we could have executed better. But the situation is that we played our hearts out. There was no shortage of work ethic. These are the ones where you have to pump people up when you work and you don’t get the results. Tonight was one of those nights. We did a lot of things that were positive. These are the tough ones. We dominated on the shot clock. We had territorial advantage and you end up losing. I don’t know if our group could work harder. Could we execute to a higher level? For sure, yeah.” OC Register


With that...they definitely have the ability to do damage to Edmonton in the future...the near future...like in a couple of days.

GO DUCKS!!!

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