"Stop hitting yourself"
Two days removed from a disappointing SO loss to those pesky Avalanche Kids and the Ducks fly into town. The Ducks were struggling a little bit and one of their top snipers, Ryan Getzlaf, was ice cold, until last game. Goalie Jonas Hiller has had his ups and downs, as well. Hawks forward Dan Carcillo announced pregame that he was going "Duck Hunting", so this was sure to be an interesting affair.
The first period of last nights game was PAINFULLY boring. The Ducks really did their job holding the Hawks scoreless, even though they had 11 shots on net. The Hawks defense was solid, as well, allowing just 5 shots. The Ducks opened up the second with a quick goal and closed the period with a goal, with the Hawks scoring one of their own between. As dominating as the Hawks were, in shots, in the first period, the Ducks were more dominant in the second and it showed on the scoreboard. In the third period the Hawks were able to tie up the game, but the Hawks were going to have to decide this one in extra time and the Hawks were FINALLY able to outlast the Ducks in the shootout. I guess those shootouts in practice worked, eh?
- The line of 13-88-81 was back in sync, again. CarBomb had a few excellent passes, and the other two are, well, beasts.
- You have to love MegaMayers. The guy is tough as nails and loves to look out for his teammates. He had another fight that didn't amount to much more than each guy getting to second base, but it's the principle. For all the poorly timed Big Slow fights last year, Jammer has made up for them, with well timed protection. We all thought this was where CarBomb was going to come in, but we were ALL clearly wrong.
- Boss 81 put the Hawks on a board taking a Savardian Spin-o-Rama, blind backhand pass from Kaner and tapping it into a gaping net. All you young hockey players, and for that matter, all you mens league allstars at home...DON'T DO THAT! Kaner is a professional that does it properly. For every time Kaner does that, there are 20,000 beer league heroes that will try that, and fail MISERABLY. Keep the showboating to the pros, people. That being said, the play by Kaner, Hoss, and CarBomb driving straight to the net, was excellent.
- Shooter tied up the game on another Kaner backhand pass, in the third. Kaner set the play up by grabbing the puck and acting as though he was going to take it to the net. Instead, he dished it to Shooter, who leaned onto a one timer with a little top cheddar, that may have grazed the hair on El Capitan's ass on the way by.
- People can expel themselves all over Deuce, but Seabrook is the real MVP on the back end. For all the glory that the other guys get, Seabrook quietly anchors that whole unit. He'll never get the recognition he deserves, but some of us see it and I'm sure the coaches do.
- I can't emphasize enough how nice it is to have a solid goalie, like Crawford, in net from the start of the season. For the first time in what is probably 3 seasons, I don't find myself holding my breath when the opponent gets a chance.
- Tazer put a head fake on Beauchemin that almost broke the defenseman's ankles, in overtime. You won't see it on the highlight reel, because he didn't score, but the move alone should get him on the nightly highlights. He put the shake-n-bake on and took it to the net, but shot it over the net.
- First Dick the Bruiser and George the Animal Steele references this season, CHECK!
- The Ducks were the first to get on the board, after a late 1st period penalty that rolled over into the second. About a minute in, Corey Fairy fed Getzlaf with a beautiful tape to tape pass that caught Crawford in a vulnerable position. Crawford seemed to tip himself off really early, and Getzlaf roofed it over his glove. The play, itself, looked like it was in slow motion, from A to Z.
- How we're going into a full year of Deuce shooting into opposing sets of shin pads is beyond me. After, say, 90-some games, wouldn't you think you'd learn? Change your angle, fake a fucking shot.
- The Ageless Teemu Selanne put the Ducks up 2-1 on a foolish turnover by Kaner deep in his own zone. This type of play is exactly why we were all worried, when the idea of Kaner at center came up. He had PLENTY of time to make another pass but forced it to Deuce, who was standing practically IN the bench door of the Ducks. The pass was intercepted by Selanne who pushed it to Koivu, and it ended back up on Selanne's stick, and he did what he's done SO many times before. Not only did Kane turn it over, but he failed to pick up Selanne on the back end of the give-and-go. He really could have snuffed it out. It'll take time for him to get use to this defensive responsibility. I understand that Kaner has been valuable at center, but these are the kind of face-palms that you're prone to get, from time to time.
- Sooooo, maybe Frodo's snakebitten streak isn't really over yet.
- All of the Hawks centers, except Bolly, were over 50% at the dot with Tazer leading at 70%. Bolly took it in the behind all night, going only 8 for 20.
- We may never see a Hawks powerplay goal, again, at this rate. It's like watching someone try to play piano with their elbows.
- Holy CHRIST ON A CRACKER, don't let Frolik do the between period interviews with that nasally accent. Buh-Buh-Buh-Buh-Buh-Buh-Uhhhhhh-Buh-Buh-Buh-Buh. We can't POSSIBLY understand a damn thing he's mumbling. I love him as a player, but let him do his work on the rink.
- Mustafa, and Lurch had an AWFUL exchange that led to Lurch taking a delay of game infraction. The puck popped up on Montador and he whacked it in the air. It bounced around and ended up in the crease, and then between the legs of about 7 players. When it FINALLY ended up on a stick, it was Lurch, who airmailed it. "You raaaaaaaaaaang?". Luckily, they were able to kill off the powerplay.
- Corey Fairy is a decent player but someone needs to explain to me how in the hell he managed 50 goals last year and got the MVP. He's NOT that good, and it had to be a fluke. But, GOD DAMN he's annoying
- Leave it up to the broadcast team to point out that the Hawks were the least penalized team in the game while coming off a zero penalty affair, AND , then leave it up to the Hawks to proceed with a walk of shame to the box all night. 10 minutes in penalties, minus MegaMayers little kerfuffle/back seat makeout session.
- Fairy couldn't beat Crawford
- El Capitan beat Hiller on a new move...finally.
- Selanne roofed it on Crawford
- Bolly was stopped by Hiller
- Getzlaf was shut down by Crawford
- Kaner won it 5-Hole on Hiller
