We all are probably thinking the same thing here. Oilers suck and that the Ducks absolutely must come up with a way to win. Oilers season didn't start that good, when Ales Hemsky suffered a shoulder injury only 22 games into the season, and they've also have lost more key players to injuries this season. Nikolai Khabibulin and now more recently, Sheldon Souray (who has been officially on the trading block for quite some time), to name a few. So, how bad Edmonton has really sucked since the start of 2010 calendar year? Here is a look at the numbers:
Oilers started the 2009-2010 season by making a 16-21-4 record in 41 games, while averaging 2.78 GF/G and 3.27 GA/G. Then came in the year 2010, and since then Oilers have registered really depressing numbers: 2-13-2 record in 17 games, while averaging 1.82 GF/G and 3.82 GA/G. Their home record is 11-16-4 and their road record stands at 7-18-2. Their Powerplay is clicking at 18.7% and their Penalty Kill stands, as of now at 75.5%. And their overall goal differential in this season is -54, which is league's worst at the moment.
So in conclusion, this is a must win for the Ducks, if they want to climb up the standings and keep their playoff hope's alive. These are the type of games in my books, that the Ducks should win with or without Ryan Getzlaf. Speaking of Getzlaf, it looks like the Ducks have survived by a scare, as he looks to return to the line-up hopefully on the upcoming weekend. It's not yet fully known how serious the injury is, however, or can Getzlaf make it to represent Team Canada in the Winter Olympics.
For now, i'm not going to speculate the Ducks lines to the game, but i will tomorrow update this post, or add another post if i feel there is more things left to be mentioned before the game. Still couple more things to wrap this up:
- Dustin Penner is back in town, and so far, he's been one of the few bright spot's on Oilers this season. Here is a good statistical analysis of Penner's performances in goal-scoring department on this season. (Link leads to a fantastic Oilers Blog at SBN. Check it out if you're interested about the Edmonton Oilers)
- James Wisniewski is apparently not too concerned about the trade rumours surrounding him, as he openly joked to the OC Register Ducks Blog's Eric Stephens about it. Wiz really seems like stand-up guy, but still, with what he have seen from him this season, i figure we all can agree that he isn't going to be worth the raise he's likely to be looking.
- Quite old news already, but i forgot to mention about the fact, that the former Ducks GM Pierre Gauthier has taken over reigns from Bob Gainey, as he was named General Manager of the Montreal Canadiens. We all obviously wish Pierre to succeed and...wait, what? This guy found himself again a GM job? :D
But yeah, that's it. Feel free to post any thought's at all to the 'comments' section :)
GO Ducks!
Showing posts with label Gameday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gameday. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Post-Game: Ducks beat Kings 4-2 in Honda Center, but paid a prize to do so.
Boxscore
Recap
Well, the good news is that Ducks finally found a way to win the Kings for the first time this season (Matter of fact, first win against a California team, as the Ducks have not yet beat the Sharks either this season). The bad news is that Ryan Getzlaf was injured on the 2nd period, when he got tangled up with the Kings captain, Dustin Brown and then fell down awkwardly, suffering a left angle sprain and he did not return to the game. Getzlaf went through x-rays, but they came back negative. He reportedly is going to go through some test's in Tuesday and it remains to be seen, how serious the injury actually is. Tough loss for the Ducks, and we obviously wish Getzlaf a quick recovery, so he can come back to help the Ducks race towards the playoffs, and also, help Team Canada to win gold in the upcoming Winter Olympics.
Besides Ryan Getzlaf injury, there is not a whole lot to complain about the Ducks win here. Anaheim played well from the drop of the puck to until the final whistle, even though in the 3rd period, Ducks play seemed a bit shaky, but that was probably mainly because of the new forward lines, that Ducks Head Coach Randy Carlyle had to put in order after Getzlaf went down with an injury. Otherwise, Ducks looked sharp. They were outshot 37 to 33, but still it was quite obvious, expecially on the 1st & 2nd period, that the Ducks controlled the play and from the result of that, they were able to capitalize most of their chances. Corey Perry put the puck back in the net in 2nd period on the Ducks powerplay, but the referee Kelly Sutherland ruled that it was a goalie interference, and therefore the no-goal ruling. Few seconds later, Ducks scored on the same powerplay, when Saku Koivu found the back of the net, potting his 11th goal of the season.
Hiller played also well, and made some important key saves on the 3rd period. Although he left couple of juicy rebounds on the crease at times, but the Ducks defence was able to bail Hiller out a couple of times. Ryan Whitney expecially played particular well on the game and it seems like Whitney has started to get himself going lately, although it may be because he was named to the USA Olympic team as Paul Martin's replacement a while ago. It would be good for the Ducks, if Whitney could keep this kind of play up even after the Olympics. Don't get me wrong, in my opinion he still is, and always will be as soft as a butter, who's defensive play probably isn't going get whole lot better as his career advances. Hope he proves me wrong though, and that he could be an integral part of the Ducks's blueline down the road, seeing as his current contract ends in 2013.
Corey Perry played great and we all hope he is finally going to break that slump of his, which came after his 19-game point streak halted. He's certainly on his way to improve his play, as he now has 6 points (2G 4A) in the last four games. Powerplay also is starting to get on track, now that Teemu Selanne is back from his injury. He scored a PP goal again last night. Ducks were 2 for 4 on the man advantage, and it was one of the key parts on this Ducks win.
Overall, good game by the Ducks. Solid win and much needed 2 points. Hopefully the Ducks can build on this, and maybe go for a bit of a winning streak before the Olympic break.
My 3 Stars to the Game:
* Ryan Getzlaf (Was downright dominant before he went down with an injury. He made lots of things happen in the offensive zone, and he also scored the goal to put Ducks up 2-1 in the second period.
** Saku Koivu (Hard work, hard work & hard work. Koivu once again lead by example, giving the team everything he's got all night long. Koivu scored the game-winning goal and notched an assist.
*** Corey Perry (1G 2A 3P +/- +2 5Shots 18:17 on TOI. Perry played a great game, and those stats support that claim. Hopefully Perry' play won't be too much affected, if Ryan Getzlaf misses any significant time with an injury.
Recap
Well, the good news is that Ducks finally found a way to win the Kings for the first time this season (Matter of fact, first win against a California team, as the Ducks have not yet beat the Sharks either this season). The bad news is that Ryan Getzlaf was injured on the 2nd period, when he got tangled up with the Kings captain, Dustin Brown and then fell down awkwardly, suffering a left angle sprain and he did not return to the game. Getzlaf went through x-rays, but they came back negative. He reportedly is going to go through some test's in Tuesday and it remains to be seen, how serious the injury actually is. Tough loss for the Ducks, and we obviously wish Getzlaf a quick recovery, so he can come back to help the Ducks race towards the playoffs, and also, help Team Canada to win gold in the upcoming Winter Olympics.
Besides Ryan Getzlaf injury, there is not a whole lot to complain about the Ducks win here. Anaheim played well from the drop of the puck to until the final whistle, even though in the 3rd period, Ducks play seemed a bit shaky, but that was probably mainly because of the new forward lines, that Ducks Head Coach Randy Carlyle had to put in order after Getzlaf went down with an injury. Otherwise, Ducks looked sharp. They were outshot 37 to 33, but still it was quite obvious, expecially on the 1st & 2nd period, that the Ducks controlled the play and from the result of that, they were able to capitalize most of their chances. Corey Perry put the puck back in the net in 2nd period on the Ducks powerplay, but the referee Kelly Sutherland ruled that it was a goalie interference, and therefore the no-goal ruling. Few seconds later, Ducks scored on the same powerplay, when Saku Koivu found the back of the net, potting his 11th goal of the season.
Hiller played also well, and made some important key saves on the 3rd period. Although he left couple of juicy rebounds on the crease at times, but the Ducks defence was able to bail Hiller out a couple of times. Ryan Whitney expecially played particular well on the game and it seems like Whitney has started to get himself going lately, although it may be because he was named to the USA Olympic team as Paul Martin's replacement a while ago. It would be good for the Ducks, if Whitney could keep this kind of play up even after the Olympics. Don't get me wrong, in my opinion he still is, and always will be as soft as a butter, who's defensive play probably isn't going get whole lot better as his career advances. Hope he proves me wrong though, and that he could be an integral part of the Ducks's blueline down the road, seeing as his current contract ends in 2013.
Corey Perry played great and we all hope he is finally going to break that slump of his, which came after his 19-game point streak halted. He's certainly on his way to improve his play, as he now has 6 points (2G 4A) in the last four games. Powerplay also is starting to get on track, now that Teemu Selanne is back from his injury. He scored a PP goal again last night. Ducks were 2 for 4 on the man advantage, and it was one of the key parts on this Ducks win.
Overall, good game by the Ducks. Solid win and much needed 2 points. Hopefully the Ducks can build on this, and maybe go for a bit of a winning streak before the Olympic break.
My 3 Stars to the Game:
* Ryan Getzlaf (Was downright dominant before he went down with an injury. He made lots of things happen in the offensive zone, and he also scored the goal to put Ducks up 2-1 in the second period.
** Saku Koivu (Hard work, hard work & hard work. Koivu once again lead by example, giving the team everything he's got all night long. Koivu scored the game-winning goal and notched an assist.
*** Corey Perry (1G 2A 3P +/- +2 5Shots 18:17 on TOI. Perry played a great game, and those stats support that claim. Hopefully Perry' play won't be too much affected, if Ryan Getzlaf misses any significant time with an injury.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Gameday: Tonight's probable line-up.
Bobby Ryan - Ryan Getzlaf - Corey Perry
Jason Blake - Saku Koivu - Teemu Selanne
Kyle Chipchura - Todd Marchant - Troy Bodie
Mike Brown - Petteri Nokelainen - Evgeny Artyukhin - George Parros - Ryan Carter
(Two of those five players will serve as healty scratches, it is not known yet which two.)
Scott Niedermayer - James Wisniewski
Steve Eminger - Ryan Whitney
Sheldon Brookbank - Brett Festerling
Jonas Hiller
(Vesa Toskala)
Funny story, according to OC Register Ducks Blog Vesa Toskala asked the management if he could wear the number #35 (Formerly Jean-Sebastien Giguere number, who was traded to Toronto Maple Leafs just a few days ago) and his request was turned down, so he chose number #36 instead. Maybe if Toskala performs well at this new chance, maybe we all won't feel so strongly about him taking Jiggy's number ;)
In all seriousness, i feel that Giguere's number should hang in Honda Center's rafter when his career is over. He was big, big part of the Ducks organization for over 10 years and gave his everything to this club we all root for.
...two shutout's already with Toronto, keep it going Jiggy! :)
Jason Blake - Saku Koivu - Teemu Selanne
Kyle Chipchura - Todd Marchant - Troy Bodie
Mike Brown - Petteri Nokelainen - Evgeny Artyukhin - George Parros - Ryan Carter
(Two of those five players will serve as healty scratches, it is not known yet which two.)
Scott Niedermayer - James Wisniewski
Steve Eminger - Ryan Whitney
Sheldon Brookbank - Brett Festerling
Jonas Hiller
(Vesa Toskala)
Funny story, according to OC Register Ducks Blog Vesa Toskala asked the management if he could wear the number #35 (Formerly Jean-Sebastien Giguere number, who was traded to Toronto Maple Leafs just a few days ago) and his request was turned down, so he chose number #36 instead. Maybe if Toskala performs well at this new chance, maybe we all won't feel so strongly about him taking Jiggy's number ;)
In all seriousness, i feel that Giguere's number should hang in Honda Center's rafter when his career is over. He was big, big part of the Ducks organization for over 10 years and gave his everything to this club we all root for.
...two shutout's already with Toronto, keep it going Jiggy! :)
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Preview: Los Angeles Kings @ Anaheim Ducks (February 8th 2010 , 7 00: PM (PT) @ Honda Center)
Kings won the Ducks last thursday, but tomorrow, it's a new night. Ducks must be hungry for the 2 points, especially when their comeback was spoiled by Kings and Dustin Brown on the final minutes of the 3rd period (Anze Kopitar sealed the deal on the Powerplay, after Ryan Getzlaf got called on tripping).
Anyhow, the way i see this, Ducks really have to get their legs moving from the get go, and they must keep moving their legs the full 60 minutes. Something they've had hard time to do all season long. Also, they must tone down the defensive zone turnovers if they want to win (I'm looking at you, Whitney & Wisniewski).
There was not whole lot of postives on Ducks's game against LA the last time, but one thing however, stood out: There weren't whole lot of negatives either. Hiller played well, of course when a goalie allows six goals, usually goalie hasn't played on top of his game. But still, Hiller played well and lot of the goals weren't really his fault, as they were defensive mistakes. Ducks defencemen inability to clear the net was shown once again this season, and you got a wonder what GM Bob Murray is up to in defence department, because team that has this big of D problem and is desperately trying to make the playoffs, something has to happen. Scott Niedermayer maybe isn't the same defenceman he was a few years ago but even if he was, we'd still have the same problem and in my opinion, it need's to be fixed sooner rather than later.
RPG (Ryan-Getzlaf-Perry) line was put back together on the last game, but despite the dominance along the boards , they failed to generate great offensive chances and thus Coach Carlyle put Ryan in second line with the Wonder Finns and but Rookie Matt Beleskey back together with Getzlaf & Perry. Beleskey scored a goal in that line and i really hope that Carlyle is going to play that line again in tomorrow. Besides, Bobby has shown already he can carry a line whoever the other guys are. And now that Selanne is starting to, albeit slowly, get back in shape we can hope that the Powerplay is going get better and of course more effective. Even though Ducks already tried it earlier in the season and it didn't quite work out back then, i'm thinking they could move Ryan Getzlaf back to the point and let Niedermayer be the rover he always is and put Selanne, Ryan and on the walls and Perry in front of the net.
Also, Vesa Toskala has worked his work-visa problem and has joined the Ducks team and is going to be the back-up to Jonas Hiller in tomorrow's game. So, welcome to the Ducks, Vesa! :)
Beleskey - Getzlaf - Perry
Ryan - Koivu - Selanne
Bodie - Chipchura - Marchant
Blake - Carter - Nokelainen
Niedermayer - Wisniewski
Whitney - Brookbank
Eminger - Festerling
(Those probably ain't going to be lines that the Ducks Head Coach Randy Carlyle plans to use, that's more of a personal thinking from my end. I will post the more probable line-up later)
Also, some stats to tomorrow's game:
Los Angeles Kings (36-19-3) @ Anaheim Ducks (27-24-7)
Goals/Game: 2.93 - 2.72
Goals Against/Game: 2.69 - 3.02
PP%: 19.5 - 18.9
PK%: 80.4 - 79.8
GO DUCKS!
Anyhow, the way i see this, Ducks really have to get their legs moving from the get go, and they must keep moving their legs the full 60 minutes. Something they've had hard time to do all season long. Also, they must tone down the defensive zone turnovers if they want to win (I'm looking at you, Whitney & Wisniewski).
There was not whole lot of postives on Ducks's game against LA the last time, but one thing however, stood out: There weren't whole lot of negatives either. Hiller played well, of course when a goalie allows six goals, usually goalie hasn't played on top of his game. But still, Hiller played well and lot of the goals weren't really his fault, as they were defensive mistakes. Ducks defencemen inability to clear the net was shown once again this season, and you got a wonder what GM Bob Murray is up to in defence department, because team that has this big of D problem and is desperately trying to make the playoffs, something has to happen. Scott Niedermayer maybe isn't the same defenceman he was a few years ago but even if he was, we'd still have the same problem and in my opinion, it need's to be fixed sooner rather than later.
RPG (Ryan-Getzlaf-Perry) line was put back together on the last game, but despite the dominance along the boards , they failed to generate great offensive chances and thus Coach Carlyle put Ryan in second line with the Wonder Finns and but Rookie Matt Beleskey back together with Getzlaf & Perry. Beleskey scored a goal in that line and i really hope that Carlyle is going to play that line again in tomorrow. Besides, Bobby has shown already he can carry a line whoever the other guys are. And now that Selanne is starting to, albeit slowly, get back in shape we can hope that the Powerplay is going get better and of course more effective. Even though Ducks already tried it earlier in the season and it didn't quite work out back then, i'm thinking they could move Ryan Getzlaf back to the point and let Niedermayer be the rover he always is and put Selanne, Ryan and on the walls and Perry in front of the net.
Also, Vesa Toskala has worked his work-visa problem and has joined the Ducks team and is going to be the back-up to Jonas Hiller in tomorrow's game. So, welcome to the Ducks, Vesa! :)
Beleskey - Getzlaf - Perry
Ryan - Koivu - Selanne
Bodie - Chipchura - Marchant
Blake - Carter - Nokelainen
Niedermayer - Wisniewski
Whitney - Brookbank
Eminger - Festerling
(Those probably ain't going to be lines that the Ducks Head Coach Randy Carlyle plans to use, that's more of a personal thinking from my end. I will post the more probable line-up later)
Also, some stats to tomorrow's game:
Los Angeles Kings (36-19-3) @ Anaheim Ducks (27-24-7)
Goals/Game: 2.93 - 2.72
Goals Against/Game: 2.69 - 3.02
PP%: 19.5 - 18.9
PK%: 80.4 - 79.8
GO DUCKS!
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