WILL THE REAL DUCKS PLEASE STAND UP?
Posted 1:11 AM ET | Comments 5
Well, well, well what do you know? The Ducks CAN stay out of the penalty box and play some consistent pressure hockey when they feel like it. For 40 minutes, anyway.
Anaheim did a fine job in the first two periods of taking the game to Dallas, who ended up on their heels with a 4-0 deficit. Unfortunately, in the third period, the Ducks went back to their bad habits of games 1 & 2, and it nearly cost them a badly needed win.
When Dallas scored on the first two power plays of the third, I had visions of the game going right down the poop-chute. Then when Schneider picked up a double-minor for high-sticking, I just knew that Dallas was going to make a real game of it. Especially considering that the Ducks have a thing about not being able to clear their own zone, and keep the puck out. The only thing that saved Anaheim was some stellar defense in front of Giguere, who seemed to have sprung a minor leak in the third period. Beauchemin had some excellent moves to clear the puck from in front, and Schneider, after getting out of the sin bin, made some great defensive moves in the closing minute plus, when Dallas had the extra attacker on the ice.
I was pleased that the boys managed to get 40 solid minutes in tonight..............now let's see if they can do the same on Thursday. The Ducks radio duo of Carroll and Severyn made a good point when they said that the third period could gave Dallas some momentum and make things tougher for Anaheim come game 4.
My only requests to the Ducks are these: Please, please, please stay the hell out of the box, please try hard to play for SIXTY minutes, and maintain pressure for sixty minutes as well. Those are the only things that will help give Anaheim some much needed momentum coming back home for game 5.
On to game 4,and GOOOOOOOO DUCKS!!!!
Anaheim did a fine job in the first two periods of taking the game to Dallas, who ended up on their heels with a 4-0 deficit. Unfortunately, in the third period, the Ducks went back to their bad habits of games 1 & 2, and it nearly cost them a badly needed win.
When Dallas scored on the first two power plays of the third, I had visions of the game going right down the poop-chute. Then when Schneider picked up a double-minor for high-sticking, I just knew that Dallas was going to make a real game of it. Especially considering that the Ducks have a thing about not being able to clear their own zone, and keep the puck out. The only thing that saved Anaheim was some stellar defense in front of Giguere, who seemed to have sprung a minor leak in the third period. Beauchemin had some excellent moves to clear the puck from in front, and Schneider, after getting out of the sin bin, made some great defensive moves in the closing minute plus, when Dallas had the extra attacker on the ice.
I was pleased that the boys managed to get 40 solid minutes in tonight..............now let's see if they can do the same on Thursday. The Ducks radio duo of Carroll and Severyn made a good point when they said that the third period could gave Dallas some momentum and make things tougher for Anaheim come game 4.
My only requests to the Ducks are these: Please, please, please stay the hell out of the box, please try hard to play for SIXTY minutes, and maintain pressure for sixty minutes as well. Those are the only things that will help give Anaheim some much needed momentum coming back home for game 5.
On to game 4,and GOOOOOOOO DUCKS!!!!
Credit Where Credit Is Due: It was a good game from the Ducks end...minus the Stars pseudo-comeback in the third. I think that gave us some confidence going into Thursday....but we'll see how it goes. Go Stars! ;)
My wife came to the conclusion last night after the 2nd period Pronger interview that during his jaw surgery/injury, he probably wasn't able to eat much other than liquid. That still may be the case because his face is emaciated and somewhat sickly looking. I giant purified steak and potato would do him some good followed by a giant purified chocolate brownie and ice cream.
That was random....
Hey, give the guys a LITTLE credit. Schneiders "high sticking" was actually the puck hitting Morrow in the face. It was funny when Anaheim took away the middle of the ice during the PK in the first and second periods. Dallas didn't know what to do with the puck. Why they abandoned that in the third is beyond me. At least they figured it out during the Schneider "penalty".
Good point Ducksfan! I busted my jaw once and even when I got the wires taken out, it still hurt for a good 2 -3 weeks after and I couldn't chew very much. That might explain Pronger's lack of energy as the game progresses.