GAME 9 @ COL - 06-02-2013 - Final Score: 3-0 W, 7-1-1
First game of the season long road trip. I've got a lingering bad feeling left over from the road trip the Ducks had early on in the 2011-12 season, which signified the beginning of their descent into the NHL's toilet, this despite the usual "We have to get a good start". But since then, they've acquired some new faces, the most important being coach Boudreau who made a great attempt to turn Anaheim's season around last year, and so far has led the Ducks to their best start since 2006-07. This game right here, even though they already won six of the first eight, restored my faith in this team as they opened up their road trip with a 3-0 shoutout over Colorado. A sharp shot by Souray from the blueline that Varlamov was a little too slow for, as well as a fumbling by a Colorado defenseman and then a one-timer by Winnick and Beauchemin, not to mention some great saves from Fasth - and not Hiller as I was expecting tonight - helped to seal the deal for the Ducks tonight.
GAME 10 @ DAL - 06-02-2013 - Final Score: 3-1 L, 7-2-1
Huh. So much for that. Hiller was back in net tonight, not that I'm blaming him directly for the loss here, but Dallas clearly wanted this game and put on a lot of pressure. Hiller was later pulled because of an injury, with Fasth taking his place for the rest of the game. The Ducks looked like they wanted to turn this game in the second period - and so far, they've had a lot of come-from behind victories, but this wasn't going to be one. Maybe I was wrong to get my hopes up for this road trip.
GAME 11 @ STL - 07-02-2013 - Final Score: 6-5 W, 8-2-1
Now here's a funny story for you. Here I was, struggling to keep myself awake waiting for the game to start at 1am. No high hopes going into this game following last night's disappointment against the Stars, that and we've had a bad history with St. Louis the past couple years - which I guess is my punishment for forgetting the Blues even exist. So yeah, by the end of the first the Ducks were down 3-1, and it looked like this game was already in the bag for the Blues. I went to bed, no way I was gonna be able to keep myself up much longer that night, needless to say I probably would have been mighty disappointed by the time I woke up. And when I did evenutally climb out of bed, I looked and saw that Anaheim won the game 6-5 in the shootout. Six-flippin-five. My reaction was less of a "hells yeah" and more of a "HOLY CRAP WHAT THE FU". Probably the biggest comeback victory I've ever seen from this team, and it's given me more faith going into the rest of the road trip.
GAME 12 @ CHI - 12-02-2013 - Final Score: 3-2 W, 9-2-1
And once again my faith in this team has been restored. The Blackhawks are evidently one of the best teams in the NHL this season, and it's great to see that the Ducks can compete at that level. Going by the replay it looked liked Anaheim could have won this 2-1 in regulation had it not been for the mess in front of the Anaheim net, which was dislodged and meant that Chicago were allowed the goal (and on that note, I'm relieved Fasth wasn't injured). Overall by the end of the game, it's great to see that Getzlaf can still score - even though it was the Chicago defender who accidentally nudged it in for him - and that the Ducks can win, against the best team in the league, in the shootout.
GAME 13 @ DET - 15-02-2013 - Final Score: 5-2 W, 10-2-1
Historically, Detroit has been a horrid place for the Anaheim Ducks to play, and they seem to have a hard time playing there - but these are clearly not the Red Wings I remember, and they have been the victims of a slow start this year. It almost looked like they were going to turn things around against Anaheim tonight, but the Ducks instead got three more to dominate the game and snap their five year losing skid at the Joe. Andrew Cogliano and Bobby Ryan netted a couple of beauties tonight, and it's great to see Corey Perry - who seems to be struggling this year - back on the scoresheet with his second goal this year. Also the failed play by Detroit leading to Perry's goal was hilarious. Hard to believe that this is only the 4th game out of 37 played there that the Ducks have ever won - and I like to think that's a good sign for Anaheim this year.
GAME 14 @ NSH - 16-02-2013 - Final Score: 3-2 W, 11-2-1
And the Ducks wrap up this road trip with a 5-1-0 record. That almost wasn't the case as the Preds looked like they were outplaying the Ducks. But again this is has been a team that Anaheim has struggled against in recent years because of the Preds' horrible style of play, and it's great to see them come out on top for the second game in a row against this team - let alone the second in two days on the road. Patrick Maroon got his first career goal here so congratulations to him, and Fasth's winning record in net continues to improve. Always pleases me to hear the obnoxious "HEY YOU SUCK" chants being silenced.
GAME 15 vs CBJ - 18-02-2013 - Final Score: 3-2 W, 12-2-1
First game back at the Pond for Anaheim - and the last before they take a well-earned five day break. Like last game, it almost looked like the Blue Jackets had this one in the bag early on to end their miserable skid, but this tired Ducks team managed to pull through, once again turning the game around in their favour and winning yet another game by a score of 3-2, this time in regulation rather than letting this game go to overtime. Interesting to note that Hiller was back in net for the Ducks tonight - good that Fasth was allowed to rest, but I still think we've got another Goalie Situation™ beginning to happen.
GAME 16 vs COL - 24-02-2013 - Final Score: 4-3 W, 13-2-1
Another game in which I was able to stay up for the first period - but in hindsight I'm not sure why I bothered as watching the Ducks fall 2-0 early on was horrific. Not sure if it's sod's law or if me going to sleep is somehow a lucky charm for Anaheim, but like that Blues game before I once again woke up to see that the Ducks managed to pull themselves out of that mess. Once again this went to the shootout, and it's becoming a bit of a concern of mine that seemingly so many games end up with the Ducks giving away free loser points to the other team.
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