The Anaheim Ducks are back in their series with the Los Angeles Kings thanks to a 3-2 road win at Staples Center last night.
In what was essentially a must win for the Ducks they came through and cut the Kings lead in half. From thew drop of the puck Anaheim was ready to play. Matt Beleskey threw Drew Doughty into the bench and Corey Perry, the pest, egged on the home teams fans and scored the Ducks first goal.
After the clubs traded power play goals, Teemu Selanne put the Ducks ahead by finishing off a a beautiful pass from Nick Bonino and unlike the late game collapse in game one, Anaheim was able to score a third goal for a little bit of insurance.
And because you can never really put the Kings away they needed the extra insurance.
Ben Lovejoy put the Ducks up 3-1 in the third period when he jumped into the play and put the puck over a stunned Jonathan Quick. The goal came right as the Kings began to push the play and it felt like the game was destined to go to overtime.
As it turns out Lovejoy's goal became the game winning because the L.A. managed to score another goal in the final minute of play to make the last 30 seconds seem like an eternity. And yes it still felt like overtime was a possibility.
If the Kings had tied the game I would have blamed Corey Perry's defective stick.
Just moments before the Kings scored their second goal, Perry missed scoring into the vacated Kings net when his stick busted in half.
At that exact moment a wave of dread came over me. Thankfully Anaheim hung on for the win and snapped the Kings six-game playoff winning streak.
The road team has won every game in this series and Anaheim would like that trend to continue for at least one more game. Anaheim can tie the series on Saturday,
The question is....who is playing goal for Anaheim when the puck drops in game 4?
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Jonas Hiller did not start the game, but Jonas Hiller got the win in relief. Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau shocked all of us when he opted to go back to Freddie Andersen for game three. Andersen started all six games against Dallas, but was replaced by Hiller for the first two game of the Kings series.
Despite being down 0-2, Hiller was not the problem. So yes it was little shocking to see Freddie in net. Boudreau said his decision to start Andersen was no different then that of a a baseball manager choosing a starting pitcher.
"I looked at the record with both guys in Staples Center and Hiller was 0-7 in his career here and Freddie was 2-0," Boudreau said when asked why he went with Andersen. "I was like a little baseball manager and just went with the guy that was comfortable here. Hilly got the save."
I like the save analogy because that's essentially was it was for Jonas and the Ducks. Hiller had to come in when Andersen was injured late in the third period. Hiller stopped 7of 8 shots for the win.
If the Kings had not scored late in the game it would have been Freddie's 'W'. Andersen made 22 stops before leaving the game.
This is when it helps to have depth in the net. If Andersen is injured and can't play then we may see John Gibson backing up Hiller for game 4. Ducks fans should be used to this because Anaheim's net has been by committee for the last couple of seasons.
I just hope the Andersen injury is not serious because I'm NOT sold on winning a Cup with Hiller alone or (and this would be a great story) will Gibson be called upon to be Anaheim's savior?
You really never know with Bruce.
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Beleskey, who is becoming a start in my book, left the game with an injury too. His status, like Andersen's is still unknown. Why does it seem like injuries and Ducks hockey go hand in hand?
Boudreau said after the game that both Andersen and Beleskey are both day-to-day with a lower-body injuries.
Thanks for reading!