The Big “O” Show Was A No Show

Click over to SI.com and the headline is “Fowl Defeat”.  Aah, sweet ambrosia to my eyes.

The Caps came roaring out of the gate in the first period and it truly was because of Jonas Hiller that Washington only scored once on 17 shots on goal (compared to the Ducks measly 7).

Someone must have said something pretty inspirational in the locker room before the beginning of the second period, because Anaheim started pouring on the pressure and refused to be intimidated by Ovi (who even took a cheap shot at Corey Perry which the zebras conveniently didn’t notice).  Joffrey Lupul tied it up with a power-play goal and the rest of regulation was dominated by hard-skating coast-to-coast runs that had everyone’s tongues hanging out a mile.

At the end of the third with the score tied, the groaning began.  Please no more shootouts!  Especially with a game tomorrow!  And it did indeed look grim as the clock ticked down to the final minute.  But Getzy, who has displayed increased vim and vigor of late, took matters onto his own stick and wristed the winner in with 51 seconds remaining.

The Ducks are truly showing their fortitude and ability to form a cohesive whole even when the line-up is in flux.  Selanne was out in order to allow a lingering strain to heal, Lupul is still drastically underweight and can’t be taxed (he lost nearly 30lbs while recovering from two blood infections), Koivu was just recovering from the flu…wait a tick…that’s it!  That’s how we won!  Saku wore the Caps down by blowing snot all over them!  Way to go Koivi!

Then, when I thought I couldn’t be much happier, I spied with my little eye, a teenager clad in one of the old “Anaheim” third jerseys right behind our bench.  In Washington, D.C., braving that sea of red.  Awesome!

Tonight we take on the Islanders and I pray that we don’t get cocky and overconfident.  Just because everyone says they suck doesn’t mean they can’t beat us (look how NJ embarrassed us).  But it is definitely painful to look at the Islanders’ record.  They’ve won five games.  No friends and neighbors, that’s not a mistype.  Five out of 28.

Meanwhile, here in the land of palm trees, paninis and an average temp of 60 degrees, Ducks blogger Adam Brady posted an argument as to why it’s better to be a sports fan on the west coast than on the east.  To quote:

"…there aren’t any NHL games that start too late to stay up for, like the Ducks, Kings, Canucks, Sharks games that don’t drop the puck until 10:05 p.m. Eastern and don’t finish until around 12:30 a.m. (can you imagine?)."

Furthermore:

"And with all due respect to the NHL’s Eastern Conference, I think our conference is better. To wit, three of the last four Stanley Cup Champions have come from the Western Conference… And for the last several years, the competition for playoff spots has seemingly been tighter in the West. Look no further than last season, when Anaheim’s 89 points were only good enough for 11th in the Western Conference. In the East, the Ducks would have been seventh. (That’s pretty significant when you consider the seventh-place team, Philadelphia, went all the way to the Final last year.)"

{I just like the fact that he used the term ‘to wit’ when referencing hockey!}

 You can read Adam’s entire post here as well as catch up on all things Ducks.

 Today’s watch party is brought to you by the letter “B” for  Big’s Bar and Grill located at 645 S. State College Blvd., Fullerton, CA where the street team will have free swag and if you RSVP on the Facebook page, you’ll receive a free T-Shirt.

Hey, I just noticed on their menu they have a Dodger burger and an Angels burger, how come they don’t have anything Ducks related…or would that be a bit cannibalistic…?