Quite frankly, it feels like the team has taken a step back after beating Vancouver in their first game after the All-Star break. Since that 4-0 win, the Ducks have been inconsistent in the defensive zone in addition to taking too many penalties. The past three games the Ducks have played are very similar to their efforts back in October. I said it then and I'll say it again, good teams will make the Ducks pay for their mistakes. Fortunately, Tuesday's opponent, Carolina wasn't good enough to capitalize.
Ducks 5 – Hurricanes 4 (OT)
As expected, Anaheim came out of the gate strong against the Canes, holding the opposition to only three shots in the opening period. The Ducks were able to keep up their momentum to about the midway point of the game. From there it fell apart for a while. A 1-0 lead early in the second disintegrated into 2-1, and 4-2 deficits, which included a penalty shot goal by Carolina's Brad Malone.
The Duck's superior talent did prevail in the end. They killed off a pair of 5 on 3 penalty situations and rallied back in the third period on goals from Devante Smith-Pelly and Corey Perry (his second of the night) to force the game to overtime. From there, the “Daily Double… of Ryan Getlaf and Perry combined for the winner 45 seconds into the extra frame.
Curiouser and Curiouser
Ek has updated the rumor chart and the Ducks seem to be in on Cody Franson and Victor Fasth. I thought very hard about this. Toronto and Edmonton are two of the clubs the Ducks should be dance partners with, but Franson and Fasth weren't the players that I thought they would be looking at. General Manager Bob Murray has channeled his inner Lou Lamoriello this season, so its no surprise that there isn't much chatter concerning the Ducks. I'll have my thoughts on trade targets in a separate column this weekend.
Ducks at Predators
Tonight is the first stop in a five game, nine day road trip and its a whopper The top two teams in the NHL, the Ducks and Predators square off in Music City, USA. Each team enters the contest with 72 points, though Nashville has a game in hand. The Preds have been money at home this season with a 20-2-1 record at Bridgestone Arena including nine straight since December 6. To make it even tougher, All-World goalie, Pekka Rinne returns to the lineup for Nashville, after missing over three weeks due to an injury.
Coach Bruce Boudreau shuffles his lineup again tonight. On defense, Ben Lovejoy will be a healthy scratch for the first time this season. Eric Brewer will take Lovejoy's spot alongside Cam Fowler. Hampus Lindholm – Francois Beauchemin and Clayton Stoner – Sami Vatanen will be the other pairings.
The forward lines will look a bit different as well. Rene Bourque moves back to left wing on the top line with Getzlaf and Perry. Andre Cogliano and Devante Smith-Pelly now flank Ryan Kesler on the second line. Matt Beleskey slides down to the third line with Rickard Rakell and Jakob Silfverberg. Finally, believe it or not, Pat Maroon and Kyle Palmieri will be the wingers on line four with Nate Thompson in the middle.
Freddy Andersen is the Ducks goalie; he is backed up by Ilya Bryzgalov.
-Ed