2/12 - Ducks (8-2-1) @ (10-0-2) Blackhawks 7:30PM CSN

[PatrickShart]

Just need a little spit on it...

 

[Chief Walking Stick]

Another nice game by Crawford.



Still no real losses yet after 13 games... Only 3 fake losses.

 

[PatrickShart]

Yep...just keep racking up points in this sprint to the playoffs

 

[CLWolf81]

I'm happy with the loss. The Hawks played very well last night, not to mention Craw bailed them out several times. If this were last year's Craw, the score might have favored the Ducks on a couple other shots.



Just the usual bullshit no-calls (especially the GTI) and we still came out of this with a point.



My favorite parts of the game were the amazing PK and the effort of Frolik and Sharp to negate icing calls in the first period. I value that kind of effort. Kruger also impressed me last night.



As for the clown shoes PP we had last night.... I've just given up on it and have come to accept the fact we just don't do well on the PP. They like making it harder on themselves? Fine by me. They're winning games and have come out with at least 1 pt in every game thus far. Why complain? We could be the Capitals and have only 9 pts in 13 games... lol

 

[R K]

They scored a PP goal on their 2nd opportunity Wolf. They could have had 5-6 more. Not sure what Dvorsky and Vansshole were watching.

 

[CLWolf81]

I keep on forgetting about that one. lol



I know the other PPs they had, they had a chance to score more on. The opportunities were there. It was just Fasth being on his game last night.



But yeah I saw trips, cross checks... the GTI at the end of the game could be seen by a blind man after they called the same thing on Shaw much earlier.

 

[MassHavoc]

That is about as bad as I've seen Kaner all year... and somehow he still got an assist.

 

[PatrickShart]

I think once Kanes gets more help on his line...he'll start getting more room again



Sharp is notoriously streaky....and hasn't put a puck in the net in awhile...and Bolland...well...

 

[MassHavoc]

I think once Kanes gets more help on his line...he'll start getting more room again



Sharp is notoriously streaky....and hasn't put a puck in the net in awhile...and Bolland...well...

I don't know if he was trying to force things or just out of gas becuase the he couldn't keep the puck on his stick and had some wild passes... plus the empty net he missed because his stick wasn't down made me sad... still would have been a tough play and not a natural position to have his stick in at the time... but would have been great.

 

[PatrickShart]

I had the ANA feed all game...I think I saw that play...the puck went thru Fasth's legs?



Those guys were calling Shaw - Andy Shaw....and calling Frolik Shaw all game...otherwise, not too bad

 

[Ashor-redtribe]

I really got nothing to complain about aside from the two over time power plays that we had so much ice with 4-3. But hey it happens, would anyone in here believe it if we were told this team is going 10-0-3 before the season started? this bandwagon fan sure wouldn't. Anyway Craw played lights out again...and one of the best saves I have seen in that point blank stop against Perry. If it wasn't for him we would have lost in regulation. I like that fact that when our core is not scoring others are stepping up. Saad keeps amazing me every game. All in all we lost but really didn't to a very good team, as I think they were mentally tired after that long road trip.

 

[MassHavoc]

I had the ANA feed all game...I think I saw that play...the puck went thru Fasth's legs?



Those guys were calling Shaw - Andy Shaw....and calling Frolik Shaw all game...otherwise, not too bad

Yeah, went through someone else before it went through Fasth's legs, he probably didn't even see it till it was past him which is why he didn't have his stick down he raised it to skate behind the net it looked like. If it would have been down it might have hit it though you never know.

 

[LordKOTL]

The only things I have to say about the game are this:



Coming into this year, Dr. Craw was great in shootouts and average in net. This year, he's been vice-versa. I'll take that trade.



Rosival IMHO had a bad game--especially with the turnovers. Between him and Brookbank as #6 they should be be the d-zone stalwarts that go unnoticable (except with hits). He needs to keep that puck on a string.



10-0-3 is nothing to complain about. It could be a hel of a lot worse.



3 monster saves by Crawford this past game; keep it up.



Credit to Sharp early in the 1st period for clearing the crease during a goalmouth scramble and essentially telling Corey Perry to change his mind like a girl changes clothes.



And lastly, IMHO an EXCELLENT game by Bickell.

 

[MassHavoc]

Bick was great last night. I though Oduya had a good game... Hoss was Hoss for the most part... Shaw jumped out a bit, but I think that was as much becuase he was all over the place trying to hit something than actually playing well but he wasn't bad, and Saad was noticable again.

 

[PatrickShart]

Bickell has been a beast...he's still young (26..soon to be 27)



It's going to be interesting to see what he/Stalberg get..and if Scooter boy can keep them at a decent price.



Also...I've been hearing a lot about how the locker room was a ghost town after the game...the players were quite pissed. Q seems to have a pretty motivated group...very good to hear they're not resting on the start, buying the hype of the record - to what their goal is.

 

[bierboy]

They scored a PP goal on their 2nd opportunity Wolf. They could have had 5-6 more. Not sure what Dvorsky and Vansshole were watching.

You can keep defending the PP all you want, Ron, but the proof is staring us all in the face. It was good at the start of this season, but it's been trailing off since then. We're now 16th in the league, I believe, and we've been falling since the early part of this season. Yes, we "could" have had more PP goals, but the fact is we did not. Our PP stinks right now; Q can preach all about how there's "good movement" and it doesn't hurt the team's "momentum" during the course of the game. But, when push comes to shove, we should be scoring more. It flat out cost us a point last night, and points are important...

 

[LordKOTL]

Bickell has been a beast...he's still young (26..soon to be 27)



It's going to be interesting to see what he/Stalberg get..and if Scooter boy can keep them at a decent price.



Also...I've been hearing a lot about how the locker room was a ghost town after the game...the players were quite pissed. Q seems to have a pretty motivated group...very good to hear they're not resting on the start, buying the hype of the record - to what their goal is.

Good to hear. It sounds like this team is forming their own identity. I like the fact that guys are stepping in for other guys with regularity if we're manhandled. I like the fact that Sharp cleared the crease. These are things that the past two years just didn't happen. I was pissed when Doan took a run and Hendry and no one at least made an attempt--same thing with Kubina's run on Bolland or Torres' run on Seabrook. I think it's less of an idea that "oh no, we'll be shorthanded" and more of a "we'll kill those penalties off all day."



Let's be honest, I will shit my pants and everyone else's pants here if we *actually* manage to go the whole season without a regulation loss. I doubt it will happen, but the bounceback mentality we've had and the lack of satisfaction is a good thing.

 

[PatrickShart]

You can keep defending the PP all you want, Ron, but the proof is staring us all in the face. It was good at the start of this season, but it's been trailing off since then. We're now 16th in the league, I believe, and we've been falling since the early part of this season. Yes, we "could" have had more PP goals, but the fact is we did not. Our PP stinks right now; Q can preach all about how there's "good movement" and it doesn't hurt the team's "momentum" during the course of the game. But, when push comes to shove, we should be scoring more. It flat out cost us a point last night, and points are important...

They're not going to score every PP. They've had PP's where they haven't scored, but had good pressure and gained momentum. I can name 5 official "PP's" off the top of my head, that were less than 1min in length...or the ones in PHX where they ran out regular lines/not to run up a score. That all hurts the every mighty percentage. CAL, WASH, NYI are all near the top percentage of the PP..but shitbag teams.



Yes, they squandered the chance in the OT. But they took what was given - and there wasn't much. Guys aren't going to start running around the zone like a chinese firedrill, simply to show movement. ANA wasn't going to let them pass through the triangle last night on that 4 on 3. There were zero lanes. So all a PP can do in that situation is work...either low to high or point to point. Kane was roatating high/low as well...but the lanes weren't there (credit to ANA)...and if/when a shot got through - Toews was there - but Fasth controlled any rebound.



They're finally home - meaning that they can practice an not travel. I'm sure it's something that they can work more on. But they're not going to score on every single one. 21-23% is where a team is near tops in the league at the end of full seasons. They're not far off of that.

 

[bierboy]

They're not going to score every PP. They've had PP's where they haven't scored, but had good pressure and gained momentum. I can name 5 official "PP's" off the top of my head, that were less than 1min in length...or the ones in PHX where they ran out regular lines/not to run up a score. That all hurts the every mighty percentage. CAL, WASH, NYI are all near the top percentage of the PP..but shitbag teams.



Yes, they squandered the chance in the OT. But they took what was given - and there wasn't much. Guys aren't going to start running around the zone like a chinese firedrill, simply to show movement. ANA wasn't going to let them pass through the triangle last night on that 4 on 3. There were zero lanes. So all a PP can do in that situation is work...either low to high or point to point. Kane was roatating high/low as well...but the lanes weren't there (credit to ANA)...and if/when a shot got through - Toews was there - but Fasth controlled any rebound.



They're finally home - meaning that they can practice an not travel. I'm sure it's something that they can work more on. But they're not going to score on every single one. 21-23% is where a team is near tops in the league at the end of full seasons. They're not far off of that.

But you're ignoring the trend...which is downward....and, if it keeps up, we'll be back where we've been the past two years. I certainly saw what everyone else saw last night -- Anaheim clogging it up. But great teams find ways to score against that kind of PK, and, if we are to believe that we are a great team this season, we'll need to break that PK strategy. Otherwise, we'll be losing points the rest of this season on failed PPs. Come the playoffs, you need a solid, good PP, and right now we don't have one....

 

[Tater]

They're finally home - meaning that they can practice an not travel. I'm sure it's something that they can work more on. But they're not going to score on every single one. 21-23% is where a team is near tops in the league at the end of full seasons. They're not far off of that.

Great point.