"It's just one game."
That's what Randy Carlyle said after the Ducks' 6-3 win over the Red Wings, when I asked him if he felt the Ducks' offensive problems were relieved at all by the 6-goal outburst.
It's just one game, sure, but it's their eighth game of the season and the game they've been waiting for since Day 1. Bryzgalov had 32 saves, 2 or 3 of which were the best I've seen by any Ducks goalie this year, on 35 Detroit shots. He's got to be making it harder for Brian Burke to decide whether to trade or keep him. He's probably making it harder for Randy Carlyle to decide who to start, too. Should be interesting to see who goes Wednesday night against Nashville.
Then there was the offense. Four guys got their first goal of the season. McDonald's and Pahlsson's (who, to be fair, didn't play the first five games of the season) were overdue. Huskins' and O'Donnell's were bonuses.
O'Donnell's goal was sweeeet. I wish I had more room to describe it in the paper, but basically he was backhanding the puck away from Bryzgalov in the Ducks' crease toward the opposite end of the rink. The puck manages to miss the sticks of all 6 Red Wings on the ice, sail straight down the middle of the rink and into the Wings' empty net! (Note: I've never used an exclamation point to describe a hockey goal, but there it was.) The only question was whether or not it would beat the game clock, which was ticking down under 10 seconds. It crossed the goal line and got the red light flashing with 4.3 seconds left.
Great goal. Great game.
About J.P.
J.P. Hoornstra has been covering the Anaheim Ducks since 2007. Eight months after the University of Wisconsin won its third NCAA hockey championship, he was born in a frigid Madison winter. He betrayed his blue-blooded beginnings by graduating from UCLA in 2003, and welcomes any and all dialogue on the finer points of hockey.
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