At Montreal

A Live Blog.

2 posts by Montreal.

Goal by Huskins on a beautiful pass from Parros. Looks like we have a new top line.

Goal by Getzlaf on an excellent pass from Perry. I want to see more out of this top line the rest of this game. I need more confidence in this team.

The Ducks seem to be controlling the play for the early going. I'm liking the defense we're playing and it looks like we're able to set up in the offensive zone on even strength.

My TV KDOC TV feed showed a picture of two goaltenders in Habs uniforms. The older one is Patrick Roy. The younger one is J.S. Giguere.

Scratches for this game are Bret Hedican and Brad May. Carter is dressed for this game.

Huge stop by Giggy on Kostopolous. Habs are getting the chances, but they have just been unlucky, I suppose.

Penalty Ducks. This better not become a pattern for the rest of the game.

PPGoal Tanguay. An absolutely stunning goal. Giggy had no chance.

Another penalty Ducks.

Huge save by Giggy on a breakaway by Kovalev. In the play, Pronger takes a slashing penalty. Things are not looking good. 5 on 3.

Weirdly, Kovalev goes off too for unsportsmanlike conduct. 5 on 4.

Koivu Goal. This occured just as the penalty expired so I'm not certain as to whether this is registered as a PPG. Looks like the Ducks took it upon themselves to prove me wrong after I had praised their defense in the early going.

Perry vs Boullion. Perry wins.

Koivu's goal will not be a PPG.

End of first.

Sorry, I skipped out to grab groceries and now its 4-3 with 6 minutes left in the second. Sorry bout that.

Apparently the first line has started to put up points. This is what I want to see. Next up: Teemu Selanne.

Powerplay Montreal. We need a stellar kill here.

SHGoal by Travis Moen off the steal. You gotta see this goal. Fantastic shot to the top corner pocket. If we're going to take this many penalties, we need a better SHG rate.

Perry will draw a penalty shot off a fantastic odd man rush. Fingers crossed here.

Perry beats Price but couldn't pull the trigger as the puck rolls off his stick. Lucky Price.

Scott Niedermayer makes a huge defensive play to poke the puck off Higgin's stick on the breakaway.

Kunitz draws a penalty. VERY VERY marginal call. I want to see another SHG here.

End of Second.

Third period begins with Kunitz in the box.

Penalty killed. Giggy left a couple of fat rebounds on that one. Scary.

Another pipe by Perry.

A fantastic glove on Plekanec. It's good to see Giggy back into his groove after a horrid first few games of the season.

This game is very evenly matched. The play is very back and forth with pretty even with the scoring chances.

Selanne Scores on the Power Play. I called this. Wide open net for Selanne, no choice for price. This is the Ducks team I want to see (offensively at least. I am still not happy about our penalties).

Montreal Powerplay again. This gets old.

The first line maintained control in the offensive zone through a very good cycle. That was a fantastic shift by the top line.

Tanguay Scores. Montreal finally puts one in after many great saves by Giggy since the third Montreal. I feel Montreal deserved this.

The top line establishes a long cycle deep in the offensive zone again. One thing I've noticed about Montreal is that they aren't physical at all when it comes to defending against this cycle. Not one check against the Ducks' top line in that segment. The Habs have got to do better than this.

Montreal pulls Price but still cannot create any offense with the extra man. I dont think they recorded one SOG with the extra man. They looked tired but they haven't played the game for several days.

The Ducks completes the eastern Canada sweep. Only two teams have done this previous.

The Ducks weren't so great against Toronto. They were a tad better against Ottawa but still weren't anywhere effective. They were now much better against Montreal. Are the Ducks finally out of the slump? Let's hope so.

Vs. Carolina

Another loss.

I'm very disappointed in Getzlaf and Perry. They are nowhere near playing what their 5.325 salary says they should be playing at. As a line, they are worth over 14 million. After 6 games, Kunitz, pointless. Getzlaf, 1 assist. Perry, 1 assist. Lets compare this line to another top line worth less than 13 million (next year). Kopitar, 4 games, 1 goal 2 assists. Brown, 4 games, 1 goal 3 assists. O'Sullivan, 3 games, 1 goal 1 assist.

This is really unacceptable. If their season doesn't start turning around and if they don't start playing like they deserve their salaries, then some changes will need to be made. Seriously.

Penner?

Anyone else check out what the projected lines are for the Oilers tonight?

Penner is on the third line. Ouch.

Hope they feel like they are getting their "$4.25 million" (or close to that) from him a year since they stole him from the Ducks via offer sheet last year.

At San Jose Sharks & Bobby Ryan

Well, no goals at the end of the one period.

That should give me enough time to watch The Office in between periods. Thank goodness for the TiVo.

Okay, okay.

Bobby Ryan. Those who have chatted with me or seen discussions of which I have taken part about Bobby Ryan know that I wasn't a big fan. First of all, I will cut the guy some slack because he was drafted right after Sidney Crosby. What a tough thing to keep in mind. I never understood what Burke or the other staff saw with him. I mean, who was drafted afterwards? Anze Kopitar. He's worked otu well for the Kings, hasn't he?

Well, truth is I feel like after this pre-season I finally feel like I was wrong. I attended the first game of the pre-season versus the Sharks in Anaheim and Bobby Ryan was great. He had two goals and an assist (I may be wrong about the number of the assists). He had a great sniper of a shot. He was in shape. He looked like he belonged on a line with Getzlaf and Perry.

Well, it's the third. We're down 3-0. Giggy makes a great save on an Erhoff one timer. The Sharks look good. I think the Ducks have taken some stupid penalties and not played the way they are capable. 10 minutes left in the game.

So I guess Carlyle has put Kunitz with Getz and Perry. We really need to strong front lines and I don't think that will be solidified until we get Ryan up from the minors. Who do we deal for space room for Ryan? Marchant? Who takes him? Denton says F. Beauchemin will get traded, but I don't see that happening. Burke and Carlyle are not ones to sacrifice solid D for offense.

Selanne's opportunity from May looked great. I feel like we are all a bit nervous on the ice tonight. Nabokov is solid so far. I have him on a few fantasy teams. I had him all last year and he was a great goalie for me. Funny thing is, my two starting goalies tonight in one league are Nabokov and Giguere.

Okay, so with 6 min. left we are playing well and SCORE! Nice deflection from Rob Neidermayer. Should that be one of his 7 goals for the season? Kidding. Suddenly we pick up the pace towards the end of the game. I feel like that is how the Ducks lay hockey for the past year, catch up. They let the opponent go ahead and then play catch up. Is that why most people rate us to finish 5th or 6th in the west? Anyone else feel like the Sharks get rated high every year and then blow it? How about the Stars? Avery joins the team and suddenly they are the favorite to win the cup. Turco doesn't have me convinced yet. As for the Sharks, Rob Blake will burn out.

Dang. Setuguchi scores. One more person that was drafted after Bobby Ryan. Sloppy recovery on the play. That just about seals the game right there. Cheecho gets the star of the game. Any surprise there?

Selanne and Morrison appear to be playing well together. How about May on a line? One thing that the Ducks have always done very well is forecheck. I think that is a reason we won the Cup a few years ago (Selanne's goal on Hasek in game 6 ring a bell?). When we forecheck, we win games, we score goals, we look good.

Pros of this game: Giggy still looks good. Sure we are down 4-1, but Giggy played well, made great saves.
Cons: still need better offensive chances, more shots on goal.

Anyone want to take the next game under their wing?
Comment please.

Odie to Kings

By now, you must have heard of this news. Let's dig a bit deeper. Who wins this trade? I'm going to give it to the Kings. Sure, the Ducks freed some room for Ryan. Sure, they open up the 7th defenseman spot to possibly Salcido (who was cut earlier in training camp) but I'm still going to go with the Kings here for getting such a solid defenseman for nothing. The ducks received a conditional third round pick from the Kings for Odie but here's the catch: the Ducks only get this pick if the Kings trade Odie this year. If the Kings wait it out, they don't have to pay the Ducks a dime. In effect, the Kings would have to find a trade offer for O'Donnell that would net them a return greater than a third round pick to get Buffalo's native third rounder. If you think about it, the chances for that are slim.