Anaheim Ducks Fan Stories: My First Ducks Game Experience

Pucks of a Feather starts a new series, Anaheim Ducks Fan Stories. Ciara Durant drops the opening puck by telling the story of attending her first live Ducks game.

This week I was asked a rather difficult question, “What is your personal favorite Ducks moment?” With there being so many incredible moments in the Anaheim Ducks history, it was difficult narrowing it down. However, after much contemplation, I have finally got it.

This moment has nothing to do with Stanley Cup championships or extraordinary comebacks. However, as a Ducks fan, this was a very pivotal moment for me. My personal favorite Ducks moment would have to be my very first Anaheim Ducks game.

January 1st, 2016, against the Vancouver Canucks, I was supposed to go to my first game. However, due to procrastination, I was not able to get my passport in time. Therefore, I missed out on my first NHL game. It was agonizing sitting at home, listening to the game instead of watching it.

The opportunity arose for me to finally see the Ducks in action. For my twenty-first birthday, my dad surprised me with a trip down to Las Vegas to visit my uncle. My uncle is one of my biggest supporters, and I was so excited to go see him and my cousin. It was shaping out to be a pretty good twenty-first birthday.

Yet, I still remember the distinct excitement I felt when my dad called me up to tell me he had one more surprise up his sleeve. My dad lives in Arizona, which makes things hard sometimes. Unfortunately, he had missed my high school graduation. So for my graduation, four years after the fact, he bought me tickets to finally see the Anaheim Ducks.

February 19th, 2018: Anaheim vs Las Vegas

I had known about this game since September, so I had been keeping a close eye on the Golden Knights all season. Their gameplay had been impressive, to say the least. I was expecting the intensity of this game to be excruciatingly high.

Parking was an absolute hassle. However, once we exited the truck and walked towards the T-Mobile arena, I felt absolutely high on life. The smile on my face was ten miles wide when I saw the sea of orange and black jersey’s.

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We took our seats, way up in the nosebleed section, and waited in anticipation for the game to start. My uncle knew nothing about hockey, so he made me promise that I’d talk him through the game.

I am not usually an overly excited person. However, when the starting line took the ice, I went into full-on “fan-girl” mode.

The Hockey Game “Heroes”

On Vegas’ end, this game was pretty uneventful for them. Of course, Marc-Andre Fleury didn’t go through the night without some impressive saves. However, it was a different story for Anaheim. After entering their season with significant team injury, they had finally made it back to a sense of “normalcy.”

Jakob Silfverberg and Andrew Cogliano’s chemistry on the ice that night sparked a flame within the Anaheim Ducks.13:32 into the first period, Cogliano rolled the puck back up to the top and rocketed a wrist shot towards Silverberg. Jakob tipped the puck into the net, scoring Anaheim’s first goal of the evening.

Anaheim almost brought the score up 2-0 in the second period after a goal from Captain Ryan Getzlaf. However, Golden Knights coach, Gerard Gallant, challenged the goal. After review, it was determined that Rickard Rakell, who had the assist, was offside. Therefore, the score remained 1-0 all throughout the second period.

7:01 into the third period, defenseman Josh Manson struggled to get the puck away from the boards in the defensive end. After a valiant effort, he managed to steal the puck. Manson passed it across the ice to Ryan Getzlaf. While the play continued, Manson managed to finagle his way between Getzlaf and the net. The puck connected with his stick and beat Fleury, five-hole.

Ryan Miller Shuts Out The Knights

The real hero of this game was easily Ryan Miller. For those of you who don’t know me very well, John Gibson is one of my favorite players on the Ducks. Especially after his efforts to keep the team in the playoff race this season. You can imagine my disappointment when he got injured during my first game.

When Gibson didn’t return after the second period, it seemed like Vegas saw this as their chance to come back. The first two periods combined, they only managed thirteen shot attempts. During the third, however, they had twenty. Compare that to the Ducks twenty shot attempts for the entire game, and you would assume they would have come from behind to win it.

Ryan Miller, being the impressive veteran back up goalie that he is, saved every shot that came his way. Not only did he save the game for the Ducks, but he shut out the Golden Knights completely.

Ducks Nation Takes Over

The “Go Knights Go!” chant echoed through the arena all night.

When Vegas’ fans came to the realization that there was really no possibility of them winning, their enthusiasm dissipated. That’s when Ducks Nation took over. Cutting through the silence, our voices blended together as we shouted “Let’s Go Ducks!” at the top of our already exhausted lungs.

My uncle, who had looked bored through the first two periods, was finally getting hyped up and into the game. He tried to get the “Go Knights Go!” chant kicked back up, but did not prevail. When the game ended with an Anaheim shutout, he informed me that Anaheim and I were now his “enemies.”

This moment I experienced was incredible. It further solidified my love for hockey and for the Ducks. The best part of the whole event was being able to experience it with one of my biggest fans.

Next: Anaheim Ducks Season Grades: Defensemen, Part Two

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