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Henrique (and friends)! It's over! Ducks earn first win of 2019

January 17, 2019, 11:37 PM ET [10 Comments]
Steve Palumbo
Colorado Avalanche Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Hours after have their deck shuffled by their general manager, the Anaheim Ducks won a hockey game for the first time in 2019. The Ducks defeated the Minnesota Wild 3-0 for their first win since before Christmas.

Adam Henrique scored the games first goal less than four minutes into the first period, Rickard Rakell padded the lead 11 seconds later and Brian Gibbons closed out the scoring before the game was even nine minutes old. Anaheim held on for the next 50 minutes, something they haven't been good at of late.

John Gibson made 37 saves for his second shutout of the season to help preserve the win and help Anaheim snap that miserable franchise-record 12-game losing streak.

General Manager Bob Murray vowed to make changes and changes he did. After shocking the locker room and fan base by dealing away fan-favorite Andrew Cogliano, he got trigger happy and added former-Duck Derek Grant, defenseman Michael Del Zotto and AHL'er Justin Kloos.

Yes, the Ducks got the win, but the deals did little more than send a whiff of smelling salts to the locker room. Other than Cogliano, no other player of any real substance went the other way. Shipping out Pontus Aberg, Luke Schenn and Joe Blandisi is hardly in the same realm as trading away, say, Jakob Silfverberg or Corey Perry, but it does put the team on notice.

Honestly I was more excited to Max Jones and Troy Terry in the lineup. I felt the Ducks played a much faster and more modern games when the kids were on the ice.

Bottom line, a win is a win.

It calms the nerves of the Anaheim faithful for a day, but the call for Randy Carlyle's job is nearing a deafening wail. I think I saw an online petition for the firing of both Murray and Carlyle. Fun stuff.

Enjoy the win.

Thanks for reading,
Steve
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