Power Play Success
Turns out the Ducks had a good power play all along. So far they have gone three for seven with the man advantage in this series. Talk about playing the long con, who knew their poor power play stats in the regular season was an 82 game rope-a-dope. Actually, they had been moving the puck much better during the final week or so of the regular season but now the Ducks are cashing in on their opportunities.
Game 3 - Ducks at Jets (Ducks lead series 2-0)
I'm one of those who believe that game three of a seven game series is a crucial game. It can either put a team back in a series or it can virtually take a team out of the hunt. The other part that makes game three important is because its the first time the lower seed in the series gets its first home game.
Although Winnipeg trails the Ducks two games to none, the volume at MTS Centre will be kicked up to 11 tonight. Three and a half hours before faceoff there are only eight tickets available on Stubhub. The lowest price is a single ticket for $599 USD. If more than one person wanted to go, the price jumps up to $704 for a pair. This is the game Jets fans have been waiting for since NHL hockey returned to the city in 2011. To quote the great Fats Waller “The joint is jumpin'.…
It will be an uphill battle for the Ducks tonight. No doubt the Jets players will feed off the energy of their fans, but the Ducks often start fast and that is the best way to quiet the crowd. If they can get ahead, the men from Anaheim must avoid their frequent mid-game slumps to keep the fans in their seats.
Lineup wise there is one change to the Duck lineup from the first two games of the series. Chris Wagner, who had been filling the injured Nate Thompson is now injured as well. Thompson is not quite ready to make his 2015 playoff debut, so the job of fourth line center now falls to Tomas Fleischmann. Wagner joins Thompson and John Gibson on the injured list. Jiri Sekac, James Wisniewski and Korbinian Holzer remain healthy scratches. Frederik Andersen has been outstanding in goal so far and remains between the pipes. Here is who you can expect to take the ice tonight:
Forwards Maroon-Getzlaf-Perry Beleskey-Kesler-Palmieri Cogliano-Rakell-Silfverberg Etem-Fleischmann-Jackman
Defensemen Lindholm-Beauchemin Fowler-Despres Stoner-Vatanen
Goalies Frederik Andersen Jason LaBarbera
-Ed