Game 48: Ducks vs. Oilers 1.16.11

OPINION:
As they say, it doesn't matter how you win, just that you win. Another lackluster effort, but they at least TRIED tonight and that little bit of effort they used, was enough to beat the Oilers. Things got a little hairy at the end when the Oilers had a fantastic opportunity to tie the game, and if they had tied the game it would have been no surprise to Ducks fans. A team tying the game in the wee moments of the 3rd period is all too familiar and haunting. I, for one, am glad it didn't happen. They held on, and they won. That's all that matters in the end.

POST GAME QUOTES:
"We take the two points," said Teemu Selanne, who had two goals in the game, "but we are not very happy how we got them."

"Third period they were much better," Selanne said. "They were aggressive, they were skating, they won the battles, and and we had a goalie that stopped everything. Without him this would be ugly.

"It was one of those things where I knew I would go back out there as soon as I got stitched up, so it wasn’t that bad," McElhinney said. "I went to cover the puck and I just kind of fell on the heel of somebody’s skate, I believe. I knew I was cut open but it didn’t feel that bad. As soon as I saw the blood I thought I would just go get it checked out on the bench."

"We thought this was going to be easy, but there are no easy games in this league," said Selanne. "If you can’t play 60 minutes of solid hockey, you are going to be having some problems. And it showed again tonight."

GAME NOTES:
-Anaheim has won four straight games at Honda Center and has gone 10-3-0 at HOME over the last 13 contests. The club is 17-7-1 at HOME this season, earning 35 of a possible 50 standings points. The Ducks currently lead the NHL in wins at HOME in 2010-11 (third in win percentage with .700).
-The Ducks have gone 29-for-30 on the penalty kill (96.7%) dating back to the third period on Dec. 28 at Phoenix (spanning nine games).
-On the power play, Anaheim has a 50% success rate (9-for-18) over the last five games. The club has gone 24-for-91 (26.4%) on the power play at HOME this season, ranking second in the NHL.

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

PHOTO OF THE GAME:

Anaheim Ducks' Teemu Selanne, right, is congratulated by teammates after scoring a goal against the Edmonton Oilers in the second period of an NHL hockey game in Anaheim, Calif. , Sunday, Jan. 16, 2011.(Photo Credit: Yahoo Sports)

Game 48: Ducks @ Kings 1.14.10

Graphic Credit: BuckyHermit @ duckscentral.net





OPINION:
Didn't go into this game expecting a win due to the hard solid effort they gave for the Bruins game just last night, but I also didn't expect they'd get shutout either. What a blow. They were playing pretty well given their circumstances for the 1st period. Then things started to unravel for them. The cherry on top was the Kings 4th "goal" at the very end of the 2nd period that put them up 4-0. The "goal" went under review and was called a goal. The problem is there is no video evidence that shows the puck conclusively going over the goal line. The other problem is that while the ref directly behind the net called it no goal, the LINESMAN farthest away called it a goal. I don't even know, I can't explain crap like that. Just know, it was pure crap. It wouldn't matter anyway in the end, I'm just saying, it was a terrible call.

To make matters worse, Koivu left the game with what was announced as a lower body injury. Two Finns down in two nights. Brutal. No time limit is given for him right now, although they did say Teemu's time frame is 2 to 6 weeks and his surgery today was successful. At least SOMETHING was successful today for the Ducks...


POST GAME QUOTES:
“We’ve played pretty well as of late. We didn’t play well tonight," said Ducks coach Randy Carlyle.

"The goals that they got, the first two, anyway, were deflections," Carlyle said. "They just threw the puck at the net. I think there were a couple of deflections on the second one. Then we get bit by a goal, I don’t know if we could tell if the puck went in the net, but obviously someone out on the ice did.”

"I think the frustration level certainly set in," Ryan said. "I think we’ve said before, that our team is a team that gets frustrated and loses all composure there, and I think you saw the result of it in the (third period).”

“We had lost Teemu earlier in the year with his hand injury, so you know what, I don’t think you can pinpoint it on saying that, well, we didn’t play well tonight or we didn’t win the game tonight because we didn’t have Teemu Selanne," said Ducks forward Todd Marchant. "There’s nothing against Teemu, he’s a great player for us, a great leader. But we just didn’t have our game tonight and, you know, bottom line is they wanted it more than we did in a lot of situations. And we just didn’t work hard enough and compete hard enough in certain areas and it showed. You can tell they were hungry for this game and they wanted it more than we did. It’s our job now to focus on the next game on Sunday and be ready to come back and bounce back and play a better game at home.”

Source for Quotes: ducks.nhl.com

PHOTO OF THE GAME:

LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 14: Bobby Ryan #9 of the Anaheim Ducks waits for a faceoff with teammates as his team trails 3-0 against the Los Angeles Kings during the second period at Staples Center on January 14, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

Game 48: Ducks @ Rangers 1.20.09

Ducks Lose, 4-2, Once again...

<_< I hate this.
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GAME DAY QUOTES:
"They made a play in the crease area and Naslund backed into our goalie and moved the puck over to the other side with both feet in the crease," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. "Gomez was almost behind the net when he tapped it in."

"He was outside the crease, I think," Hiller said. "I should still be able to stop it."

"Right now, we're just shooting ourselves in the foot," Ducks defenseman Chris Pronger said. "It's not fun."

Source for Quotes: nhl.com