January 25, 2013; Anaheim, CA, USA; Vancouver Canucks left wing Daniel Sedin (22) is congratulated by center Henrik Sedin (33) after scoring a goal against the Anaheim Ducks during the first period at Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Anaheim, CA - Well, Friday night’s festivities got off to a very nice, admirable start for the Anaheim Ducks home opener. Ducks’ captain Ryan Getzlaf made a short speech thanking the fans for the support after the lengthy lockout. Both teams came out to center ice to salute the sellout crowd at HC.  It was the first Ducks game at Honda Center in nine months. However, this one might be forgotten rather quickly as the Vancouver Canucks power play literally powered them to a 5-0 victory.

The Ducks rode the usual home opener momentum early on in the game. The Ducks carried the majority of the play in Vancouver’s zone. Vancouver goalie Corey Schneider was spectacular within those first eight or so minutes. The Ducks had plenty of good scoring chances, however, a few of them failed to even hit the net. That went on for the entire game as the Ducks at some points had trouble hitting the net on their best opportunities. However, at the 8:11 mark of the 1st period, things started to unravel for the Ducks. Daniel Winnik took a holding penalty and shortly after that Getzlaf took a cross-checking penalty. The Canucks capitalized on that 5-on-3 power play with a typical Henrik Sedin-Daniel Sedin connection. Ducks defenseman Bryan Allen, later in the period, took an interference penalty. Then, with just under two minutes left in the period, Mason Raymond tapped in another power play goal for the Canucks.

After a failed penalty shot by Canucks forward Alexandre Burrows early in the second, neither team really controlled play. That is, outside of the three power plays the Canucks had in the second period. The Canucks did score relatively late in the period from a bad turnover by Devante Smith-Pelly. Canuck Aaron Volpatti cashed in on the turnover to make it 3-0. The crowd had been very frustrated with the officiating up until late in the second when Corey Perry was called for charging and roughing after he was hit hard that could have been called. At this point, the Ducks composure was on the verge of cracking and Vancouver could sense that. With the double minor, the Canucks had a 4:00 power play. They converted on it in early in the third when Zack Kassian scored on an easy slam dunk, again on the power play.

Things unraveled ever more a little over halfway through the third period when Perry and Keith Ballard dropped the gloves. However, Ballard’s jersey got caught over his head and never threw a punch as Perry got a couple in before the refs broke it up. Since Ballard never actually threw a punch, he only got called for a roughing penalty. The league rule isn’t dropping the gloves and stick, a punch must be thrown by the player in order for him to be called for fighting. I kind of feel like the intent to fight, i.e. dropping the gloves, should be enough to warrant a fighting major penalty. The Canucks added another goal late in the third period as Raymond got his second of the game to make it a 5-0 final.

January 25, 2013; Anaheim, CA, USA; Anaheim Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller (1) during a stoppage in play at Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

The Ducks played their best early on in the game. They were getting bodies in front and getting a lot of pucks to the net. Until they started to take penalties, it seemed the game was going to be a repeat of Vancouver’s home opener in which the Ducks took it to them in a 7-3 beating. However, the Ducks struggled mightily on the penalty kill, especially down low. The Ducks defense had problems protecting the crease. If one defenseman would creep to try and block a pass or shot, the next defenseman would not rotate to help cover the empty space. The Canucks also got their sticks on way too many of the rebounds allowed by Jonas Hiller. Hiller was not on point tonight. He hasn’t looked all that sharp consistently in these first three games. The last goal by Raymond definitely should have been stopped but Hiller really misjudged it as it went under his left arm on the far side. Offensively, the Ducks really didn’t get much going after the first period.  In the second and third periods, the Canucks did a pretty decent job of keeping the Ducks out of the middle of the ice in their zone, especially on a power play the Ducks had early in the second. On a side note, rookie Rickard Rakell was a healthy scratch and rookie Peter Holland made his season debut, however, he had just under eight minutes of time on ice.

Three Stars:

1. VAN Daniel Sedin (1 G, 1 A, Even)

2. VAN Corey Schneider (30 SV, 30 SA, 1.000 SV%, 1 SO)

3. ANA Saku Koivu (2 S, Even)

So, the Ducks have some work to do, but no time to do it as the Nashville Predators visit the HC tomorrow night for the back end of a back-to-back for the Ducks.

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Jan 19, 2013; Vancouver, British Columbia, CANADA; Vancouver Canucks defenseman Kevin Bieksa (3) tries to clear the puck from the net of goaltender Cory Schneider (35) as Anaheim Ducks center Kyle Palmieri (51) tries to pick it up during the second period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports

Vancouver, BC - The Ducks, lead by Teemu Selanne, looked strong against the defending President’s Trophy winners last night. One area of concern going into the game was the power play. Top power play killer Cam Fowlerwas scratched due to the flu. The Ducks united and went a perfect 3-for-3 on the man advantage.

In the first period, off-season acquisition Daniel Winnik got the scoring started at the 6:31 mark. Daniel Hamhuis was the next to score on a slapshot midway in the frame. Daniel Sedin scored a power play goal after Jonas Hiller could not corral rebound a minute and a half after Hamhuis’s tally. The Ducks got their first chance with the man advantage at the 15:04 mark and wasted no time in scoring. After Selanne won a faceoff, Sheldon Souray got the puck and slapped it past Cory Schneider to tie the game.

The second period was all Ducks. Winnik again started the scoring off 3:33 into the frame. Max Lapierre was called for hooking at the 6:24 mark and on the ensuing faceoff, Corey Perry netted a wrister to pad the lead.  Schneider got the hook after Kyle Palmieri notched his first of the year 11 seconds later. Selanne netted his first of the year on a power play in the closing seconds of the second.

Alexander Edler notched a power play goal at the 9:27 mark. Selanne cemented the top star honors with his second goal of the night and fourth point overall. There were no further penalties or scoring the rest of the game.

After the game, Selanne got word of another 40 year-old, Jaromir Jagr, having a big night and had this to say about the senior skaters big performances:

“Way to go old boys. Most of the nights you feel it’s a young guy’s game. Physically, health-wise, I feel great. But I know I need at least four or five games to get my legs back. To be honest, I can’t wait until I start feeling good because it is going to be way more fun than this.”

The Ducks will return to the ice Monday in Calgary to face the Flames. Puck drops at 6:00 p.m. PST. The game will air on Fox Sport Prime Ticket.

Three Stars:

1. ANA Teemu Selanne (2 G, 2 A, +1)

2. ANA Daniel Winnik (2 G, 0 A, +2)

3. ANA Saku Koivu (0 G, 2 A, +2)

SOG: