Ducks Pummel Panthers – & – Ducks In L.A. Times Again

On the faceoff Hordichuck was obviously jawing at Parros, so the beasts threw down at puck drop, but the expected “fight” never materialized because Chuck basically just tackled Parros and the officials immediately broke it up.  Lame!

At 6:54 in the second, Sutton bounced a pass off a Panther stick and the puck landed perfectly for George to net his second.  The crowd went definitively berserk and careful lip-reading revealed the words “hat trick” both on and off the ice.

From then on, every time Georgie’s skates hit the ice, the roars were Stanley Cup loud and I notice that (to paraphrase “Camelot”) for one, brief shining moment, hockey was what it was meant to be all along: FUN.

After the game, Ducks semi-jokingly admitted they were throwing the puck to Parros every chance they got in the third, but alas, the elusive hattie was not to be.  I think George was okay with only two goals, judging by the huge grin that lasted half the game and his waving to the crowd when he was declared the game’s first star.

Oh, and by the way, Ryan Getzlaf, Bobby Ryan and Corey Perry scored as well.

Cam Fowler finally made a rookie mistake, flipping the puck over the glass and incurring a delay of game penalty.  He didn’t even contest it, just skated over to the box shaking his head with a look of “why the heck did I do that?” on his face.

Announcer oops of the night: Called Toni “Lied-man” instead of “Lood-man”.  Glad I’m not the only one.

In other news: The Los Angeles Times published this story about the allure of live hockey and again it’s Ducks heavy – the writer even mentions the really loud guy at the Ponda mocking the Kings goaltender.  Hey Times, where’s your loyalty?