Heading into the opening game of the NHL Western Conference Final, the one question all the hockey “experts” were asking was a simple one: Would the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, after melting down the Colorado Avalanche in 4 straight, show any signs of rust after being off for 8 days against the Edmonton Oilers?
The end result of the game, a 3-1 win by the Oilers, would lead one to believe the answer to be yes.
Er, not so fast.
While the Oilers most certainly had momentum heading into Game 1 after crushing the hopes of an upstart San Jose Sharks team, the Ducks didn’t look like a team that had been off for a week. In reality, they looked like a team that, as Scott Niedermayer said during his press conference “[was] a half step off or away from finishing some chances tonight."
Anyone who has watched this team at all this year (which, judging by the ratings, was next to no one except the few but proud fans in Orange County), can point to having more than just one day off as the reason why the Ducks looked just a touch slower than they had in their previous series. All year long, having more than one day between games has given fans a reason to hold their breath and worry how they would come out skating. Would they hit? Would they be able to make clean passes? Would they turn it over in the neutral zone one to many times?
The answer is this: the Ducks looked much better than the New Jersey Devils did after their sweep of the NY Rangers in the first round. The Ducks came out in the first period not worried about playing the puck, but about taking the body, shaking off the slumber of the layoff, and getting the first few quality scoring chances of the game. The Devils, on the contrary, lost that first game to the Carolina Hurricanes by a score of 6-0.
After Ales Hemsky’s power play goal in the second period that he batted out of the air, the Ducks looked a bit in a daze. They did become a half step slower; they lost their transition game, and weren’t really battling along the boards as they had done in the first period. Was it rust, or was it just a momentum change that the Ducks never recovered from?
Anaheim outshot the Oilers 14-5 in the third period, yet they did not figure out a way to penetrate the trap the Oilers have employed when playing with the lead. It may be wise for Randy Carlyle and his coaching staff to look at video during their series against Calgary to remind his team how that type of style should be played, and how successful the Ducks became.
So while the long layoff may seem like a plausible excuse for the Ducks’ loss, it’s more likely that the second goal deflated both the team and its fans (who, I might add, were a sorry excuse for a playoff crowd last night. And then I wonder why this team gets bashed at every turn.) Rust is not to be used as an excuse for the Ducks.
Momentum, which has been carrying the Oilers since Game 2 vs. San Jose, is the reason.
A woman with a love and passion for all things hockey, baseball and writing. Ergo, here I am. I will primarily be focusing on hockey and baseball, but if another sport so warrants my attention, I will put my thoughts and opinions here, in this space. Well, it would actually be in the space to the left, but you know what I mean.
Allow me to apologize up front if some of my blogs are long...I'm working on that. For the record, should you see any slanted articles towards the following teams: New York Mets, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of Orange County of Southern California of the United States of America, or the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, that would be cause those are the teams I'm truly a fan of. But I will try to be as fair and unbiased as possible.Than ks in advance for reading!
