NOTE: KDOC has picked up this game. Game WILL be aired on KDOC. Graphic Credit: BuckyHermit @ duckscentral.net
PERIOD 1: 0 - 1 PERIOD 2: 1 - 1 PERIOD 3: 2 - 2 OVERTIME: 2 - 2 SHOOTOUT: 2 - 3
OPINION: Can't be hating on this loss too much. Here's why: They got a point out of it by going to the overtime & the shootout, and they actually put effort into this one. I don't mind losing when there is effort involved. They controlled most of the game even though the final score says otherwise. Bryz always seems to be on his A-game when facing his former team. He's an absolute wall in shootouts, as he was when he was a Duck. With the Ducks gaining a point it is better than how they normally seem to fair in back-to-back games, so overall, I really can't come away from this loss too disappointed. Losses suck, don't get me wrong, but they suck a little less when they looked like they tried and it just wasn't enough.
POST GAME QUOTES: "Right now, we're taking one shift at a time and small steps," center Todd Marchant said. "We just need to keep moving forward. I thought we played a solid road game, and can take positives from the effort."
"We had a strong second period and overall sound effort," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. "We can't too excited about a good road point, or down too low. We need to keep an even keel."
PHOTO OF THE GAME: In the halloween spirit, I choose to share with you the pumpkin I carved this afternoon. Sorry it's not a game photo, but I'm really proud of this pumpkin. (Photo Credit: Anaheim Ducks Fan Zone)
OPINION: This game probably had most Ducks fans fooled only 5 minutes into the game. In those 5 minutes the Canucks had already tallied 2 goals and most likely had the orange and gold jersey wearing fans doing some face palms and groans. "It's going to be another one of THOSE nights, again" was my reaction. However, the Ducks players didn't feel that way because they cut the lead in half towards the end of the 1st, and never looked back after that. A total of 7 goals were racked up tonight in favor of the Ducks. George Parros (1), Mike Brown (1), Bobby Ryan (2), and Corey Perry (2) each tallied a goal. Most surprising though, was one credited to Lupul near the end of the game. The puck took a wicked bounce off the boards and shocked everyone when it found its way into the net. So while the first 5 minutes of the game drew a ton of eye rolls and "oh crap"s, it was all Ducks after those 5 minutes.
POST GAME QUOTES: "There is a collective sigh of relief, that is for sure," Ryan said. "A lot of games we’ve gotten down and then we’ve gotten out. Tonight, we just found a way to stick with it and battle through. We did the things that we need to do to score goals and it was a nice night for it. Guys came out and answered the bell when we needed it."
"They got a two-goal lead on us and we were wondering what the heck was going on," said Ducks coach Randy Carlyle. "We stayed with it. We changed our mindset, got better going through the neutral ice and recovered more pucks on the dumps."
"It was a good line goal," Parros said. "Mike Brown got in hard on the forecheck. I followed up with a hit, causing the puck to get to Carter. He just put it to the net, the puck bounced to my stick and I was able to put it in."
"Any time that your energy line can make a contribution on the offensive side plus play their normal energy game, it’s a huge boost for your group" Carlyle said. "They played with energy most of the night. They were our best line early in staying with the structure that we’re trying to create."
"The most important thing for our mental psyche going forward," Carlyle said, "is it’s a starting point for our group."
ANAHEIM, CA - OCTOBER 30: Bobby Ryan #9 of the Anaheim Ducks celebrates his goal with the bench against the Vancouver Canucks during the third period at the Honda Center on October 30, 2009 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
OPINION: This is rock bottom. This game. If you didn't know what rock bottom looked like before, now you know. It's this. Losing to the team that came into our building winless and averaging 2 goals in their games, to leaving our building with a win and 6 goals. Yes. That's what our Ducks practically gift wrapped for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Most commonly known as the Toronto Maple Laughs to other teams, they came here and gave us absolutely nothing to laugh about. Nope. Instead the Ducks took on that honor and they are now the ones being laughed it. A game where it is as close to a "GIMMIE" as you can get and you get squished like a bug by a team that held a huge total of 1 point before they played tonight. Well now, ladies and sirs, that team has improved to 3 points, and we can thank our Ducks for that. Embarrassing doesn't even adequately cover the first inch of how a Ducks fan is feeling right now. Is there a word out there that tops embarrassing?
POST GAME QUOTES: "It’s terrible," said Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller, who gave up all six Toronto scores. "We wish we knew what the problem is. Right now, we’re struggling and we can’t find a way to get out. I don’t know what it is. We have to go back to the basics. Everybody can play better, me included. I know I can play better. I hope everybody does. That is the only way we can go from here."
"We shouldn’t have taken the penalties if we were focused on our game and what we needed to do to win," Niedermayer said. "We did it to ourselves and that is the result. Momentum works both ways. You see breaks that happen and when you’re on this side of it, they go one way."
"Once we feel like we’re going, we take the next goal against and we’re back in the hole again," Hiller said. "I wish I had the solution. Hockey is a game of confidence and trusting each other. I don’t think that’s what we’re doing right now."
"Frustration is a key word in tonight’s hockey game," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. "Obviously, when you take the number of penalties that we took, whether we felt they were warranted or not, really changed the whole flow of the hockey game against us. You can’t do that. When things aren’t going your way, those are the times when you mentally have to bite your lip and forge ahead."
Carlyle noted that so many of the Anaheim penalties were roughing calls during post-whistle altercations, possibly a reaction by the team to its struggles the last few games. "The frustration level goes with the lack of success we’ve been having," he said. "When you start to see players like Koivu, Scott Niedermayer – those players in reaction mode, then you start to question if we putting ourselves in a can’t win situation. Was our attitude and frustration getting the better part of us? I’d have to say yes in some of those instances."
Referees try to break up a fight between Anaheim Ducks center Todd Marchant, left, and Toronto Maple Leafs center Matt Stajan, right, in the first period of a NHL hockey game in Anaheim, Calif., Monday, Oct. 26, 2009. [Photo Credit: sports.yahoo.com]
POST GAME QUOTES: "It’s a frustrating time right now with the way things are going," said Ryan Getzlaf, who assisted on three Anaheim goals. "We came out and had a good effort in the first period. We had that lead and let it slip away. It’s a hard thing to figure out, but we have to do it and do it quick."
"We came out and played better," Lupul said, "but I didn’t really like the way we responded to some tough bounces. That stuff is going to happen. Those are things we have to be able to recover from. They got a couple of lucky goals. But we have to be able to respond better. After they got the first one, they really took it to us for awhile there."
Added Ducks coach Randy Carlyle, "When you go through stretches like we’re going through right now, it seems like when something has a chance to go wrong, it’s going wrong. You have to persevere, put your head down, not get too frustrated with the situation, go back to work and take the positives out of the game. We did score enough goals to win. Now, the other side is we have to be better defensively."
"It’s a mental game," Getzlaf said. "It’s part of our job and part of our job as a group. Everybody is professional here. I’ve never been part of a team with a losing mentality and it’s not going to start now. We’re going to work tomorrow, the next day and get ready for the next match."
ANAHEIM, CA - OCTOBER 24: Joffrey Lupul #14 of the Anaheim Ducks shoots and scores a goal in the first period against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Honda Center on October 24, 2009 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)
Ducks forward Evgeny Artyukhin has been suspended for three games, without pay, as the result of a slew-footing incident against Dallas Stars defenseman Matt Niskanen in Wednesday night's 4-2 loss to the Dallas Stars at Honda Cener. Niskanen sustained an injury on the play.
The incident occurred at 4:23 of the second period. No penalty was assessed on the play.
Artyukhin, who was suspended for two games January 19, 2009, now is considered a repeat offender under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Artyukhin will miss Saturday’s game against Columbus, Oct. 26 against Toronto and Oct. 30 against Vancouver. He will be eligible to return Oct. 31 at Phoenix.
“While we disagree with the decision to suspend Artyukhin, we understand that the league is trying to protect players from injury,” said Ducks Executive Vice President/General Manager Bob Murray. “We accept the ruling and will move on.”
POST GAME QUOTES: "Nobody wants to be in this situation where we’re not getting involved and not doing certain things," said Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf. "We didn’t start playing until the third period and that is not acceptable in this league. We’re not going to accept it as a group. We have to get ready to go ready to go tomorrow and get back on our horse."
"It was us executing at a higher level," Lupul said of the third period. "It’s up to everyone to take control of the puck, settle it down and give it to other people on the tape. In the third period, we started doing that. It seemed like everyone to make a difference, whereas the first two periods we were real tentative and our execution was very poor."
"It’s the mental part of the game that is tough," Getzlaf said. "You have 82 games and you have to learn to get up for all of them. It doesn’t have to be yelling at each other. Everybody gets ready in their own way, but either way, we have to be ready when that puck drops and we weren’t tonight."
"It starts right now, changing the focus to the next game and knowing that that first 20 minutes is going to be our focus and we’ll go from there," Lupul said. "We should all be ready off the start and that is what we’re looking for on Saturday."
ANAHEIM, CA - OCTOBER 21: Ryan Getzlaf #15 falls over teamate Luca Sbisa #5 of the Anaheim Ducks during the game against the Dallas Stars at The Honda Center on October 21, 2009 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Jacob de Golish/Getty Images)
POST GAME QUOTES: "Tonight was a tough one," said Ducks captain Scott Niedermayer. "We had those power plays early on that we didn’t capitalize on and from there, they took over the game. We didn’t really have an answer. We weren’t mentally strong enough to push through things we had to tonight."
"We did have a decent start in the hockey game," said Ducks coach Randy Carlyle. "We had things going our way, drew some penalties and were skating. It seemed our frustrations from our lack of offensive production on the power play took us out of the hockey game."
"It’s probably a combination of it not going well and then guys maybe try to do too much," Niedermayer said. "We just need to go out there with energy, work hard and good things will happen. There is enough skill and talent that we can put on it, but you have to be willing to work and commit to doing the little things."
ANAHEIM, CA - OCTOBER 17: T.J. Oshie #74 of the St. Louis Blues is hit by George Parros #16 of the Anaheim Ducks in the first period at Honda Center on October 17, 2009 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)
POST GAME QUOTES: "We know what kind of player [Perry] is," said Ducks coach Randy Carlyle. "We’ve been around him enough to understand that he’s a goal-scorer and he can score some big goals for your hockey club. He’s done that and it’s good to see he’s been rewarded with a good start."
"We haven’t come out in a first period all season," Perry said. "It’s a must, especially in our own building."
"We can be quite proud with the way we played tonight, especially coming back from the road," said Hiller, who had 32 stops on the night. "It’s never easy. Everybody showed, especially in the first period, that we were ready. We didn’t back off too much in the third. We controlled the game most of the time. That is the way we have to play."
"Coming off the road, we’re going to rest our bodies, rejuvenate and be ready," said Perry. "This is our home rink. It is where we want to get our wins. We want to own this building. If we play like we did tonight, we’re going to be alright."
ANAHEIM, CA - OCTOBER 14: Corey Perry #10 of the Anaheim Ducks looks for a rebound in front of Greg Zanon #6 and Niklas Backstrom #32 of the Minnesota Wild during the first period at the Honda Center on October 14, 2009 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
POST GAME QUOTES: "We didn't have much energy to start the game," Carlyle said. "I thought we played well for 10 or 12 minutes in the second and we started to get through that, but we ran into penalty problems and it took the momentum away from us. We played last night and had an emotional comeback, and it's hard to recapture that."
Source for Quotes: nhl.com
PHOTO OF THE GAME:
Anaheim Ducks' Teemu Selanne(notes), left, of Finland, tries to put the puck past the New York Rangers' Christopher Higgins(notes) and Ranger's goalie Steve Laviquette, hidden, in the second period of their NHL hockey game at Madison Square Garden in New York, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2009. (Photo Credit/Source: sports.yahoo.com
PERIOD 1: 0 - 1 PERIOD 2: 0 - 2 PERIOD 3: 2 - 2 OVERTIME: 2 - 2 SHOOTOUT: 3 - 2
POST GAME QUOTES: "At that age, with that much speed and the knack for scoring goals, it just doesn't leave him," Niedermayer said. "So it's fun to watch."
Selanne said, "Scotty got the puck and I couldn't believe how open I was. I just tried to sneak behind there. A guy like Scott, if you get open, you know that puck is going to come."
Flyers goalie Ray Emery makes the kick save on shot from the Ducks' Corey Perry as Flyers' defenseman Chris Pronger looks on. [Source for Picture: GETTY IMAGES]
POST GAME QUOTES: "That's why he's out there killing penalties," Carlyle said after Perry's short-handed goal with 53 seconds remaining left clinched the Ducks' 6-1 victory over the Boston Bruins on Thursday night.
"Both goals changed the momentum and gave us life and energy," said Selanne, who leads active NHL players with 581 goals and had never gone three games into the season without a point when healthy. "It's very disappointing what happened in Minnesota the other night. We know how important the power play is, it can turn the whole game around."
"We were embarrassed at home on opening night, and then let the 3-0 lead slip away our next game," Carlyle said. "So we had a lot to prove."
Bobby Ryan #9 of the Anaheim Ducks celebrates his goal with teammates Ryan Getzlaf #15, Corey Perry #10 and Scott Niedermayer #27 in the third period against the Boston Bruins on October 8, 2009 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. The Ducks defeated the Bruins 6-1. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NOTE: This game marked Ryan Getzlaf's 300th career NHL game. Congrats Ryan!
John Scott #36 of the Minnesota Wild and George Parros #16 of the Anaheim Ducks fight during the game at the Xcel Energy Center on Otober 6, 2009 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Andy King/NHLI via Getty Images)
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