Sometimes a little adversity goes a long way. That is what I have to keep telling myself after the Anaheim Ducks raised the white flag early on in another embarrassing home defeat...this time at the hands of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
As I write this the Jackets have extended their lead to 4-1, more than halfway through the third period. (the game is final. Jackets win 4-2) The Ducks have not been terrible....its more like they have come back down to Earth.
Monday nights result might have been different had Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky not been lights out early on. He saved his teams bacon on more than one occasion before his mates regained control of the game and solidified outcome.
Bob successfully help preserve Columbus's 1-0 first period lead with 10 big saves. In fact, he stopped all 20 shots he saw through 40 minutes of play and extended the Ducks scoreless drought at home to five periods.
The Jackets scored again in the second period for a 2-0 lead. The goal was a backbreaker and seemingly sucked all the air out of the Honda Center. The Ducks had been pressing the play in search of the equalizer and then boom....down by two. That was all she wrote for Bruce Boudreau's suddenly sluggish team.
Anaheim cut the lead in half with a Mathieu Perreault's 11th goal of the season at 5:45 of the third period. That's as close as the Ducks would get. The Jackets scored the next two goals before a meaningless Ryan Getzlaf goal made the game look closer than it was.
Bobrovsky finished the night with 34 saves in the win.
Freddie Andersen took the loss. The Ducks rookie backstop lost for just the third time in 17 games. To be honest it wasn't his fault. The Ducks were sloppy and disciplined. Columbus took advantage of five power play opportunities by capitalizing on two of them.
Despite the early pressure I never felt like the Ducks were in the game. The early season invincibility has turned into an unforeseen vulnerability.
I think i can officially say it out loud...Anaheim is slumping. Remember when no lead was safe for a Ducks opponent? Anaheim's uncanny ability to fall behind and rally had been unmatched by any other club this season. Sixteen of Anaheim's 40 wins have come when the opposing team scores first. Truthfully, that has been one of this groups hallmarks all season long. That seems like a 1,000,000 years ago right about now.
I don't know if the Olympics or the pressure of being number one, but something's up with Anaheim. I always tell my son, who is a basketball player, it takes hard work to earn a starting position on the floor, but that's nothing compared to the amount of hard work required to hold onto that starting position.
That where the Ducks are at now.
Everybody in the league is gunning for them. They can't hide under the palm trees and sunshine anymore. Anaheim is going to have find that next level after the break. If they slow down or take a night off, like they have been, teams are going to come in here and do what the Stars and Jackets both did...beat the snot out of them. They took it to he Ducks and beat them at heir own game. Simple as that.
Maybe it's time for Boudreau to shake things up a bit. Maybe kick a trash can or two. I don't know....something. Like I said earlier, adversity can be a good thing. Hey, it's better that it happens now and not in the Spring.
Thanks for reading!