Game 3: Ducks vs. Sharks 10.14.11 HOME OPENER

OPINION:
So here's the deal. Every year since the Sharks decided to be a relevant team their fans have loaded up busloads and driven down to Anaheim to "invade" our building. They do a damn good job with invasions, I tip my hat to them for pulling it off without fail every year. This year, they had prime opportunity to invade and take over our home opener. Let's be honest hear, Sharks fans salivated at the thought of taking complete control over the Ducks home opener (they're a little obsessed sometimes, I dig it, I like diehard fans, I can accept it). The best moments of these invasions is when the Ducks have their own fun and keep the Sharks fans quiet the whole game by shutting the Sharks out. This happened last season and a favorite of mine, Joffrey Lupul (Now with the Maple Leafs) later took to twitter to tweet"That's a long way to drive to not see any goals #drivesafe." and he was pretty proud of himself when I had told him that was the best tweet ever. It holds true. Drive safe Sharks fans, because tonight, you drowned in the Ducks pond.

The game itself was amazing. The atmosphere inside was intense (we hate being invaded). The Ducks got off to a slow start, as it took them about half a period to even register a shot on goal, but once they got their wheels moving they pretty much dominated the rest of the game and controlled the pace. The penalty kill was superb, and the Sharks had no answers for Jonas Hiller who is in fact back, earning his 12th career shutout. The lone goal came from rookie Maxime Macenauer and it was the first of his NHL career.

First home win is in the books and we now look to Sunday night against the St. Louis Blues. It'll also be "MVPerry Night" where fans in attendance receive a Corey Perry MVP Puck and Poster. It'll be a night to honor Corey Perry for being the recipient of the Rocket Richard trophy and being the league's MVP. Be there. Celebrate #MVPerry.

POST GAME QUOTES:
"I felt comfortable out there," Hiller said of his 12th career shutout. "It was a really good game the whole team played. It’s definitely fun, with the crowd and everybody. It gets me excited."

"I want to make a statement every night, no matter what happened last year," Hiller said. "It’s always nice to get these kinds of games and feel good out there. Goaltending is a lot about confidence and it’s easier to play well if you start the season with these kinds of games. I’m definitely happy with the way it went. I also worked really hard to be where I’m at right now."

"I like playing with those two guys (Macenauer & McMillan)," Parros said. "They are small, fast and can chase down pucks. We are clicking, so hopefully we can keep it going."

"That was probably one of the best periods I’ve seen from this team so far," said Hiller, who helped the Ducks improve to 2-1-0 on the season, while the Sharks dropped to 1-1-0.

"You don’t have a chance in the NHL without solid goaltending," said Ducks coach Randy Carlyle. "Jonas tonight provided a little bit more than solid. His ailments are something of the past. Now, we just have to maintain keeping him fresh and give him an opportunity to be able to play night in and night out."

Injury Note:
Winger Jason Blake suffered a laceration of his forearm near the left wrist and received a suture, according to Carlyle. There is no word yet on the severity of the injury.

Source for Quotes & Game Day Notes: ducks.nhl.com

PHOTO OF THE GAME:

Anaheim Ducks center Maxime Macenauer (24) celebrates scoring with his teammates during the first period of an NHL hockey game against San Jose Sharks, Friday, Oct. 14, 2011, in Anaheim, Calif.(Photo Credit: Yahoo! Sports)

Game 53: Ducks vs. Sharks 2.2.11

OPINION:
Well. 14 seconds was all it took. All it took to show Ducks fans that the Ducks thought they were still on break. Sorry Ducks, break is over. They figured that out by the 2nd period and almost fought back, but almost isn't good enough. A loss to another division rival and this one stings. It was enough for the Sharks to tie the Ducks in the standings while still having a game in hand. All we can do now is hope they lose that game in hand, and then lose some more, and hope the Ducks play just a smidge better and get back to winning.

It's no secret in Anaheim. The Ducks always, and I mean always, come out flat after the all-star break. They really don't do well with extended rest periods. Take last year's olympic break... it completely broke the momentum the Ducks were gaining and it resulted in an extended summer.

I always hate having to update the blog after a loss and it's not because I'm a sore loser. I actually try to employ Randy Carlyle's rule he has for his players. The 10 minute rule. I try to be over a loss within those 10 minutes and then focus on the next game, and then I come here and rehash the game and get upset all over again. Anywho... On to the next one...

POST GAME QUOTES:
"We were lethargic to start the game," Ryan said, "and going down 3-0 to a division rival is a tough hole to crawl out of."

Rookie Cam Fowler, who had a second period goal in the Ducks' comeback attempt, added, " I’m not sure if we were a little rusty after the break, but there are no excuses. We can’t have a start like that, especially in our own building. I thought our guys did a good job of battling back, but unfortunately it just wasn’t enough."

"When we scored there in the third, the whole momentum shifted," Ryan said. "We controlled the play for the better part of the third. They did a good job. They held onto a lead that they should have."

"We haven’t played that type of hockey in a long time," said Ducks coach Randy Carlyle. "But those are the things that you have to deal with. We’ll come to work tomorrow and prepare for the next one because we can’t do anything about the one that just went by."

GAME NOTES:
- Koivu's assist on the Ducks 2nd goal gave him his 500th career assist.

Source for Quotes & Game Day Notes: ducks.nhl.com

PHOTO OF THE GAME:

Anaheim Ducks right wing Joffrey Lupul(notes) celebrates his goal against the San Jose Sharks during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Anaheim, Calif., Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011.(Photo Credit: Yahoo Sports)

Catch Up Post! Games 42 - 45

Let's get this out of the way and move forward before I fall more behind, shall we?

Game 42: Ducks vs. Blackhawks 1.2.11



Game 43: Ducks vs. Predators 1.5.11



Game 44: Ducks vs. Blue Jackets 1.7.11



Game 45: Ducks vs. Sharks 1.9.11



Okay then....3-1-0 in those last 4 games. Awesome. All I have to say is Jonas Hiller is a beast! Now let's get back to our regularly scheduled blog posts and stop falling behind! :)

PRESEASON: Ducks vs. Sharks (Game 2)

PRE SEASON GAME 2
Ducks v. Sharks

Where: Honda Center
When: Wednesday September 22nd, 2010
Time: 7:05 pm

Game 1: Ducks vs. Sharks 10.3.09

Graphic Credit: BuckyHermit @ duckscentral.net

PERIOD 1: 0 - 3
PERIOD 2: 0 - 4
PERIOD 3: 1 - 4





POST GAME QUOTES:

"They played a simple, solid game and made us pay for the mistakes we made," said Ducks captain Scott Niedermayer. "It’s the first game of the season coming in. Everyone has ideas of how they want it to go. The next thing you know, they get a couple of goals and it changes the plan. We probably didn’t respond as well as we could have when that happened. We have to be better."

"This wasn’t the performance that we were looking for," said Ducks center Saku Koivu in his first game with Anaheim after signing in the summer. "We realize that we didn’t play well. San Jose came out hard and capitalized on a couple of our mistakes in the first period. It’s more about the way we played. We lost too many one-on-one battles in the corners. We just made their night too easy and way too tough for ourselves."

"I think at the start we maybe weren’t playing as well as we needed to, but I thought it was going all right," Niedermayer said. "Then we made some bad plays and gave the puck basically to them to get chances. They made us pay. It got sloppy after that. We didn’t have sustained pressure in their end. In the third, we did a bit better job of that and that is what this team has to do."

"We just weren’t good enough in the hockey game," said coach Randy Carlyle. "It’s as simple as that."

Quotes Source: ducks.nhl.com

PHOTO OF THE GAME


San Jose Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov fails to block a shot by Anaheim Ducks defenseman Ryan Whitney in the third period.

Photo Credit: sports.yahoo.com

Game 80: Ducks vs. Sharks 4.5.09

Ducks Lose 3-2

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GAME DAY QUOTES:
"We had many chances at the end there to put the puck away," said Ryan Getzlaf, who had a chance to punch in a rolling puck in the closing seconds, but couldn't get his stick on it under pressure from Marc-Edouard Vlasic. "We played a good hockey team tonight. There is no doubt about it. There were a few chances that were missed and a few penalties taken in different situations that we shouldn’t have."

"There were obviously some emotions, frustrations and whatnot," said Ducks coach Randy Carlyle. "It was all displayed toward the end of the hockey game, that is for sure. We didn’t seem to have the required energy tonight for stretches of the game. It seemed like we were running on fumes at times. That leads to mistakes, turnovers and some of things that we haven’t done from a structured standpoint."

"It’s tough, but it’s nice that we get a little bit of a break before our last two games, especially this late in this season," Perry said. "We’ve been playoff hockey for the last couple of weeks here. It’s been a long haul and we’re in a great position where we are. It’s our destiny. We have to come out and prove that we belong there. We have to ready for Friday. It’s going to be a test, especially with these days off. We have to be prepared."

Source for Quotes: http://ducks.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=Recap&seas=20082009>ype=2&gnum=1179

Game 69: Ducks vs. Sharks 3.15.09

Ducks Lose 1-0.

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GAME DAY QUOTES:
"I think we did everything right except we couldn’t score any goals," said Ducks winger Teemu Selanne. "We had so many great chances. Those guys have one of the best records in the league and we had no problem playing against them, so that is a good sign."

"A typical example of when things aren’t going your way," Selanne called the (lone) goal. "It’s frustrating."

"We didn’t deserve to lose today," Hiller said. "I thought we played pretty well. But if you don’t score, it’s tough to win. They had some chances, but I think defensively we played pretty solid and we had some chances in their end."

"We just have to stay confident," Selanne said. "Wednesday is another chance. If you look at the teams we play against, they are exactly who we want to beat. Against San Jose, this would be a bonus for us. From now on, it’s playoffs. If we play like this, there is no team that can beat us. We just have to believe that and play like that."

Added Hiller, "We just have to keep working. I bet the luck is going to come back."

Source for Quotes: http://ducks.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=Recap&seas=20082009>ype=2&gnum=1036

Game 79: Ducks vs. Sharks

vs.

Ducks Lose 3 - 1

PERIOD 1: 1 - 1
PERIOD 2: 1 - 3
PERIOD 3: 1 - 3

I'm going to be very honest here... they played like they didn't even care about winning. They were sloppy tonight, very sloppy. And once again they could not for the life of them figure out how to break down the Sharks boring trap game. They were stopped. It wasn't very fun to watch. I don't know why they looked so slow or tired out there tonight but I hope they were just being lazy. I want our team to be healthy again. Being without Pronger, Perry, Giguere, and Getzlaf isn't a fun time. I just want them full strength again, that's all. This isn't the Ducks team, this is a skeleton of the Ducks team with those 4 out... It's sad.

GAME DAY QUOTES:

"They’re playing good hockey right now," said Rob Niedermayer of the Sharks. "You don’t go on a run like they have been without playing some good hockey. They’re getting contributions from everyone right now. That’s what makes a good team."

"We just gave it away," Teemu Selanne said. "I think they wanted it more than us. We didn’t play on our level again, so that’s disappointing for us. You have to give credit to those guys (San Jose). They’re playing well."

"You have to give the opposition credit," Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle said. "They played an up-tempo game. We played okay for the first 10 or 12 minutes and then we started to get away. We were completely flat. We didn’t execute and pucks were bouncing away from us. They turned it up and we were standing around."

"We have to move on," Selanne said. "Sunday is going to be a huge game. We can’t think about this game anymore. We just have to learn something from tonight and do things better on Sunday."

QUOTE SOURCE: http://ducks.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=Recap&seas=20072008>ype=2&gnum=1169

Game 47: Ducks vs. Sharks

vs.

DUCKS WIN 4 - 3 IN OVER TIME!

PERIOD 1: 1 - 2

PERIOD 2: 2 - 3

PERIOD 3: 3 - 3

OVER TIME: 4 - 3

The Ducks were SECONDS away from losing this game and Douggie gets the TIEING goal and sends them to overtime, where THE DUCKS WIN!!! That is 2 POINTS that the Ducks wouldn't have had but got!! I'm not even mad SJ got a point... we got 2 that we almost didn't have AT ALL!!!!! This has got to be one of the most exciting wins of the year... it was a huge huge game!

Game 35: Ducks vs. Sharks

vs.

PERIOD 1: 1 - 0

PERIOD 2: 1 - 1

PERIOD 3: 1 - 1

OVER TIME: 1 - 1

SHOOTOUT: 1 - 2

We got a point. I'm happy. No I'm not happy because we lost. I am happy because seeing Scotty skate again... made me wanna cry happy tears. He looked so good out there, like he had never missed a day of skating. It was awesome! The Weight pass to Bobby Ryan that resulted in our lone goal was awesome!!!! They played pretty dang good tonight. A nice physical game. We should have won, but SJ stole it. That's why I don't like shootouts. That means it becomes anyones game. :-/ I don't think they deserved the win. But that's just the way it goes. Once Weight gets comfortable with our team, his famous passes will be nice to watch. :) Today was a good example of how nicely he is able to do that. (And because I still miss Andy Mac I'll just mention he had a goal and an assist tonight with St.Louis)

We'll have our revenge on SJ on Tuesday.

Game 18: Ducks vs. Sharks

vs.

PERIOD 1: 0 - 1

PERIOD 2: 1 - 2

PERIOD 3: 2 - 2

Over Time: 2 - 2

Shoot Out: 3 - 2!!!!

Woo hoo 2nd shoot out win in a row!! LOL. Giguere shut out both trys the Sharks had in the shootout... Getzlaf and McDonald both got shootout goals and Schneider missed. 2 points puts us in 1st place in the Pacific Division.. which right now isn't much to brag about.. but it's still a good thing to see! :) We're back where we belong for now! HOORAY!!

Teemu was at the game. He looked happy.

Go Ducks!

<3