At long last the lockout-shortened 2013 NHL season is underway. And now that we're no longer thinking about Bettman and Fehr's bitchslapping fest, I can finally start to actually talk about the team and how well or not they're doing.
What I'm gonna do for every eight games is summarise my thoughts, essentially talking about what I like and what I don't like from what I see. And if the date format I use confuses you it's because I'm doing it the way I'm used to, DD/MM/YYYY.
GAME 1 @ VAN - 19-01-2013 - Final Score: 7-3 W, 1-0-0
What an incredible way for the Anaheim Ducks to get started. They've not been a great road team for the past few seasons, but to go into Vancouver and not only come back from a deficit but to also score seven goals in one game is a huge achievement, and gives me some relief. I don't recall any game in recent memory where they got that many goals, so already this is a good sign. Good old Teemu Selanne is already off to a fantastic start, scoring twice and getting two assists to get himself at the top of Anaheim's player rankings, while new acquisitions Daniel Winnick and Sheldon Souray also made their presense known. Winnick isn't known for scoring a lot of goals historically, and to get two in only the first game is very impressive.Souray was great with the Stars and it looks like he'll do well in Anaheim too. The thing I've dreaded most at the start of this season is the Ducks' top line giving a lacklustre performance, but my fears were put to bed with a power play goal from Corey Perry. It's early days, but so far I'm really liking these 2013 Ducks.
GAME 2 @ CGY - 21-01-2013 - Final Score: 5-4 W, 2-0-0
Once again I breathe a huge sigh of relief as Anaheim's top line is clicking and producing results. Ryan Getzlaf has drawn criticism from fans for not shooting and therefore not scoring enough - myself included - but it looks like Bruce Boudreau's coaching style is finally allowing Getzlaf to get loose as he scored twice tonight. Winnick continues to impress, notching another two goals including the game winner. Jonas Hiller made some huge saves but him leaving the net wide open for Calgary's third goal is worrying.
GAME 3 vs VAN - 25-01-2013 - Final Score: 5-0 L, 2-1-0
Not even a week after the Ducks wrecked Vancouver's home opener, the Canucks went into Anaheim and returned the favour. Interesting that the Canucks put Corey Schneider in net instead of Luongo tonight, and evidently that worked in their favour as the Ducks couldn't get any of their 30 shots on net past him. At lot of mistakes on Anaheim's part and some real sharp, close shots from Vancouver led to the Ducks' downfall this time. Not a good way to open the season at home. I don't want to put all of the blame on Hiller, but he looked liked he was quite slow to react and let in some easy goals for the Canucks tonight. I wonder if Boudreau will try sticking Viktor Fasth in net tomorrow.
GAME 4 vs NSH - 26-01-2013 - Final Score: 3-2 W, 3-1-0
Surely enough, Fasth was in net for the Ducks tonight. He let in a couple of nasty rebound goals, the first not even two minutes into the game, but other than that he looked pretty solid tonight, especially in overtime. He also made an incredible save to win this game in the shootout, earning his first NHL victory. Bobby Ryan netted a real nice goal late in the second period, and Winnick got another one in, already he's close to beating his personal best of 11 and that can only be a good thing. Since that 2011 playoff series I've hated games against Nashville, but tonight it looks like the Ducks are finally getting close to solving their system.
GAME 5 @ SJS - 29-01-2013 - Final Score: 3-2 SO, 3-1-1
Hiller was back in net tonight for another close one against the Sharks. More notably Emerson Etem, drafted by the Ducks in 2010, played his first shift tonight. He didn't achieve much on the ice but I'm really looking forward to seeing how he does further down the line. Was great to see the Ducks recover from a goals deficit again, and it almost looked like they were gonna get a couple more and win this until the Sharks put that to pasture with a game tying goal late in the third to take this thing to the shootout in which San Jose ultimately won and earned themselves a 6-0-0 record after tonight's game. Naturally it's disappointing to see Anaheim lose such a great game in the end, but they've shown that they can compete with one of the best teams in the league, and that's a really important factor for this short season.
GAME 6 vs MIN - 01-02-2013 - Final Score: 3-1 W, 4-1-1
Once again the Ducks came back from behind to win this game. Kyle Palmieri celebrated his birthday in style, scoring a couple of real sweet goals against the Wild. Bobby Ryan later netted in a power play goal, getting an assist from linemate Getzlaf, and Selanne got assists on all three goals scored for the Ducks. A good game all around, and Fasth also continues to impress with 30 saves - this is looking very familiar as it appears we may have another "goalie situation" on our hands - but I'm not sure if that's necessarily a bad thing.
GAME 7 vs LAK - 02-02-2013 - Final Score: 7-4 W, 5-1-1
Now this was arguably the most important game so far for the Anaheim Ducks. The hated rivals and reigning Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings (urgh) were in town and in the middle of their hangover. The four goals let in by Hiller are a little worrying, considering the Kings have not been a good team so far (so much for the "they're gonna repeat it" predictions), but that mattered little as the Ducks demolished the Kings with a final score of 7-4. Not only was this the highest scoring game in the 19 year history of the Ducks-Kings rivalry, but this would also be the game in which California native Emerson Etem earned himself two assists. Nick Bonino led the scoring surge with a hat trick, and this game proved to me that the Ducks have a solid lineup all around.
GAME 8 vs SJS - 04-02-2013 - Final Score: 2-1 W, 6-1-1
Another game in which the Ducks came back from behind, and another close one against the Sharks. This time the Ducks handed San Jose their first regulation loss, and improved their own record, earning them so far the best start since 2006-07. It's great to see the Ducks achieve this goal after too many times saying that they're gonna do it and then falling flat on their faces. Fasth got his third start of the year, but I'm wondering if that's more to do with Anaheim wanting a healthy Hiller for the season long, six game road trip that's coming up.
Well, so far 2013 has been a good year for the Ducks. Hopefully this will continue into the road trip to keep Anaheim high in the standings. I really like what I'm seeing from Boudreau's coaching style which makes for a much needed, refreshing change from Randy Carlyle's defence-heavy, grinding style of hockey. The scorers for this team are finally being allowed to show their potential, needless to say the defencemen have netted a few of their own too - but I can't tell if this has come at the cost of defending the net properly.
I'll be back after the next eight games. Until then, Go Ducks!
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