When a man has to drive two and a half hours each way to pick up 160 square feet of oak flooring on a Friday it gives him time to think. He thinks about all sorts of randomness. Most importantly, he thinks about how to delicately phrase things so as not to offend the masses.

Here are some of my random thoughts about Thursday's opening night debacle in Pittsburgh:

The game reminded me of Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner. First the Road runner embarrasses Wile E. After which the coyote plots and schemes to get even. He develops a plan and starts to make a comeback and it really seems like he has a chance to finally catch his nemesis. Then it all blows up in the Wile E.'s face. Just thinking out loud.

I thought about swiss cheese. Not Luca Sbisa Swiss cheese, but rather the holes in the Duck defense. If Cam Fowler, arguably the team's best defenseman, has many more -3 nights on the ice, it will be a tough season.

Playing John Gibson in front of friends and family in his hometown was a nice gesture by head coach Bruce Boudreau. As nice as it was to do, it exposed Gibson's lack of experience. He just wasn't ready to take on the likes of Sid Crosby and company.

Ryan Kesler is a big asset on the power play. Adding him to the talents of Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry makes for a dynamic combination. As dynamic as they are, it doesn't make them exempt to paying for their mistakes. Sloppiness will get you beat every time, even by the likes of Blake Comeau.

Time for a Do-Over

What the Ducks need is a do over. As painful as the loss to Pittsburgh was, the Ducks have to move on as if it didn't happen. Tonight in Detroit you can expect Boudreau to shake things up a bit. DSP moves up, Jakob Silfverberg moves down. William Karlsson is in, Rickard Rakell is out. Finally, Frederik Andersen starts while Gibson backs him up.

Forwards
Maroon-Getzlaf-Perry
Beleskey-Kesler-DSP
Cogliano-Karlsson-Silverberg
Etem-Thompson-Jackman

Defense
Beauchemin-Lindholm
Fowler-Lovejoy
Stoner-Vatanen

Goalies
Andersen
Gibson

Let's go Ducks!

-Ed

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