The Anaheim Ducks went into Chicago and St. Louis in back-to-back nights and handled their business.
The Ducks improved to 20-7-5 after getting contributions from Andrew Cogliano, Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf in the first eight minutes of the game against the Blues. After that they cruised to a relatively easy 5-2 win.
Anaheim took down the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 in a shootout on Friday and are now 5-1-2 in their past eight games. Pretty impressive if you consider how tough this stretch of the schedule has been for Bruce Boudreau's team.
The Ducks last four games have been against the upper echelon of the Western Conference, having faced both the San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings prior to taking on the Blackhawks and the Blues.
The Ducks earned at least a point in all four games and have moved int a tie with the Hawks for the top spot in the NHL. Both teams have 45 points. Anaheim also jumped back on top of the Sharks (43 pts.) for the Pacific Division lead.
Other notable things for me to write about at 11:55 pm on a Saturday night....
- Ryan Getzlaf scored another beauty of a goal, his 15th of the season. He literally intercepted a St. Louis clearing attempt mid air, skated it back in to the Blues zone and scored. The puck had to be two or three feet off the ground when he batted it down and gathered it up. Getzlaf also added an assist to push his season point total to 34 points.
Did I mention that the captain now has points in 13 consecutive games? MVP, MVP, MVP....
- Nick Bonino continued his hot play adding a goal and an assist in the win. Bones has points in seven of his last nine games (3g 7a)
- Tim Jackman picked up an assist. His first point as an Anaheim Ducks - WOOT!
- Corey Perry scored another goal. He leads the team with 18 goals and is third in the NHL behind Alex Ovechkin (22) and Alex Steen (20). Perry has goals in five straight games and in six of his last seven. Yep, he's a good one that Corey Perry.
- Andrew Cogliano had a goal and an assist and snapped a four game scoreless drought.
- You know who didn't snap a scoreless drought? Yep, Teemu Selanne....he was given the night off. The
"Finished Flash" hasn't scored a goal in so long he may have forgotten what color the light is when it comes on.
- Cam Fowler finished the night with no points but he was a plus-2. Cam is now a career high plus-4.
- Anaheim killed off all five of St. Louis' power play chances which included two double minors. The PK has improved to 81.3% and in ranked 19 in the league.
- The Ducks went 1 of 2 on the power play. The much improved power play in no longer one of Anaheim's weaknesses. The PP has climbed to 16.7% and 17th in the NHL.
- Frederik Andersen made 21 saves in his first start since Nov. 29. The 24-year-old rookie improved to 8-1 on the season.
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In my last blog one of my loyal readers
(and comment maker) pointed out how myself and other media types tend to be glass half-full kind of people. I, for one, am not that type of person, but I could definitely see where he was coming from. When it comes to writing or blogging about sports,in this case hockey, it is very easy to write about negative issues or trends. Why? It makes for more dramatic, thus more interesting copy. I don't do it just to be a Debbie Downer. But honestly all writing is subjective and I will usually just twist the current situation to fit my blog concept.
For example...
Before the win in Chicago I wrote how the Ducks had lost three of four games and were slumping. Fast forward two days later..... now I can say Anaheim has earned a point in four straight games. It's all a matter of semantics. :)
Thanks for reading!
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