My Review
Game was great. Entertaining. Ducks outplayed SJ for most parts of the game.
I know there's a knock against the PP and PK units, we're goina need a stretch of successful PK's and a hot PP in order to get the focus away from special teams.
but 5 on 5? This team was rolling lines over the boards. And they were taking to a very hot SJ team.
Yeah, some success on the PP or a ref's skate might have gotten in the way of a win, but if the Ducks play that kinda game from here on out, there's no doubt they make the playoffs and can be successful.
The defending wasn't perfect, but it was pretty effective. SJ has a lot of talent, and even in a game that was very open at times, the Ducks D did a pretty good job of keeping SJ in the corners... None of that Sedin cross ice passing in front of the net junk and Anaheim defenders are scrambling to dive into passing lanes... Defenders skated and pinned people against the boards.
I don't think I've seen as much stickwork from our forwards coming back and defenders in a game in a long time. They were pressuring SJ players even before they received their passes. Maybe SJ decided they were going to avoid dumping the puck in and fighting for it at all costs, but the Ducks were able to really break up a lot of plays as SJ entered the zone.
They were on top of their game. They hit some posts, they missed a LOT of rebounds... They missed chances, and they had more chances than SJ. And they had better chances than SJ. You replay that game 100 times and the Ducks probably score a few more times and maybe SJ's weak goals don't go in.
Lord Flashheart said, "This game was reminiscent of some of the last season games during the "surge". Play hard, outplay the opposition most of the time, sucky PP and no primary scoring."
I couldn't disagree more.
The Ducks turned it on this game, especially when SJ put pressure on the Ducks. The Ducks stepped up and responded when SJ stepped up their game. SJ then relaxed at times and the Ducks kept going, seemingly encouraged by their opponent stepping down.
In previous seasons, when the Ducks would push with no reward, it tended to be against apathetic teams who were looking to give the Ducks a win and the Ducks couldn't even take it.