Shake up and Wake up!

After an overwhelmingly disappointing loss to a Crosby-less Pittsburgh on Friday night, the Ducks were in desperate need of a win in Minnesota. So desperate that there was a major change to the offensive line-up. I was unable to watch the game live so I checked in often on my phone. I could tell from the way the minuets were dispersed between players that there had to be a shake up in the lines...I couldn't have been more correct. I watched when I got home...
Here's a look:

Kunitz - Getzlaf - Morrison. These guys played well together, but I think it was obvious on the final goal of the night just what Ryan Getzlaf & Corey Perry can do on a line together. Those final seconds of the game may have been the only quality time those two spent together and look what happened. Getzlaf sends a beautiful pass to a wide open Perry in front of a wide open net. However, I don't want to take away from the opportunities that the K-G-M line had. They looked solid, and I think by removing Perry from Getzlaf it allowed Chris Kunitz to become more puck minded than he has been so far this season. Kunitz playing along side Getzlaf and Perry means he's required to make space and allow the other two to make plays, while having Brendan Morrison on the line, Kunitz becomes a shooter again. I like Kunitz in that role...I'm sure it wont be a surprise to say that I don't care for Morrison in the play makers role, but hey...the power that is Getzlaf somewhat counteracts that. Anyway, I'm assuming this was the #1 line of the night.

Miller - Pahlsson - Perry. I think the goal here was to get the scoring spanned out amongst many lines. I can't say that I think this line brought much action or offensive power. For the most part, they went unnoticed.

Moen - Carter - Niedermayer. I think this was my favorite line of the night. Ironically, this line was something Ducks fans saw at the beginning of last season when Ryan Carter filled in for Sammy Pahlsson because he was recovering from surgery. They were very physical and had alot of scoring opportunities. Not only that, but I'll never argue Carter getting more minutes.

Bodie - Ebbett - Ryan. Yea...this line to me was basically Andrew Ebbett and Bobby Ryan. I still haven't seen much from Troy Bodie (I had to look up his first name!). But much like Getzlaf cancels out the Morrison effect, I think the same can be said about the Ryan - Bodie effect.

One thing I noticed about this line-up was that everyone seemed to be playing very similar minutes. In terms of forwards, Bodie was the low end of the scale with 11:40, while Pahlsson maxed out at 17:51 (with some added PK time). Spreading the offense seemed to work well. Much of this "spread" comes from having a key player or scorer on every line.

So the overall positive of this game? The Ducks played one of the better games fans have seen in weeks. They were sharp, quick (in fact, I'm just remembering RIGHT NOW that they just played game 2 of a back-to-back) and they played a skilled game of hockey. They made crisp passes and they played physical. They moved their feet and controlled the puck for much of the game. Aside from a few penalties, they were disciplined and focused. I was impressed for the first time in a while.

Jonas Hiller was fabulous...again! At this point, I'm going to expect that he plays on Tuesday against the Rangers and Jiggy is in net against the Islanders. I know normally things would be the other way around...but the smart move here is to put the man who is playing well in net against the Rangers and right now, that guy is Hiller. No question.

So, my predictions. After making a whooping 4 predictions I've learned something...go with the gut instinct. For example, the other day I was going to make a prediction that we were going to hear good news about Selanne...that day we find out he's skating again. No biggie right? Tonight, my original prediction was 2 goals by Ryan a goal from Perry and a shutout by Hiller. I tried to spread it around a bit for kicks and well...from now on...I go with the instinct! But...Hiller did let one by tonight, it just didn't count!

GO DUCKS! I like the shake up...it was a fantastic wake up!