Pucks of a Feather
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Andrew Cogliano Proves to be the Anti-Byfuglien in Anaheim’s Latest Win

By Richard Spalding

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In a series of big names and big hits by a certain big dumb guy, Anaheim’s third-line center is coming up even bigger.

Heading into the Western Conference first-round series between the Anaheim Ducks and the Winnipeg Jets, the majority of the talk centered around two topics: how the Jets could stop Anaheim’s dynamic duo of Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, and how intimidating Winnipeg’s blueline was.

Over at SI.com, Allan Muir had this to say about Winnipeg’s D-men:

"Winnipeg’s defense is as intimidating as any in the league. Led by Dustin Byfuglien, Jacob Trouba and Tyler Myers, the Jets are big, skilled and physical. They won’t be cowed by Anaheim’s forwards."

Meanwhile, Andrew Cogliano quietly prepared for a series in which no one in the media expected him to be an X-factor.  Turns out, Cogliano out-Byfugliened Big Bad Dustin last night, helping the Ducks grab the series by its throat with a 3-0 lead.

Cogliano had a hand in both the Ducks’ game-tying and game-winning goals last night, and wound up with three assists on the evening.  He was physical (four hits) yet disciplined, harassing Jets players all night long and having the sort of impact on a critical playoff game that only the big-name players are supposed to have.

Byfuglien, on the other hand, threw his body around to the tune of four hits . . . two penalties (one which was absolutely childish) . . . and a “Makes me feel warm all over” plus/minus of -3 when it was all said and done.

But hey – people were still talking about Big Buff after the game!

Idiot. It’s amazing that people still give Byfuglien so much attention – his sloppy play with the puck resulted in Cam Fowler‘s goal seconds before time expired in the first period (momentum killer); his dirty take-down of Corey Perry could have resulted in another goal (the irony being it was Byfuglien who lost track of Perry in the first place); the longer the games go on, the more out of position he plays; and he has yet to score one point in this entire series – not one.

(No, I have not forgotten Byfuglien’s cross-check that got him suspended for five games at the end of the regular season, either.  But why kick a man when he’s down?)

Andrew Cogliano, on the other hand, did a lot of the nitty gritty things that separated Winnipeg players from the puck and set forth a chain of events that led to three critical goals for Anaheim.  It started with the first goal of the game for the Ducks:

It was Cogliano’s hit on Jacob Trouba that gave Jakob Silfverberg the chance to close on the puck and battle for it, which leads to Cogliano fighting for the puck on the opposite side of the ice seconds later, before dumping it off to Fowler for the goal.   Meanwhile, Byfuglien gave up on the play and broke out before ensuring that Cogliano had, indeed, lost control of the puck.  Tsk tsk.

Cogliano was at it again when the Ducks needed him most.  Down 4-3 with just over two minutes to go, Cogliano wins the puck behind the net and fires it out in front, where it is picked up by Silfverberg (who deserves, and shall soon get, a post of his own!).  The rest is just the latest chapter in Anaheim Ducks’ lore:

Of course, no comeback is worth a damn if the team crawling out of the grave cannot seal the deal with a win.  Once again, Cogliano gets thing started:

The Jets had two big boys behind the net (Mark Scheifele, 6’3″ and Trouba, 6’2″) but the 5’10” Cogliano out-worked them and fed a wide-open Francois Beauchemin.  Boom.

If there’s a puck to be had, and Andrew Cogliano is around it, the Winnipeg Jets better be aware.  He absolutely killed the Jets last night . . . but then again, so did Dustin Byfuglien, so at least they have that in common.

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