Just when you thought you had the Ducks figured out, a 6-5 overtime loss to the Coyotes at home.
There were actually two shots tonight that I thought for sure would go in (making it a 7-6 game, wouldn’t that be something). One was when Phoenix’s Mike York got a cross pass in front of an open net in the first period, but completely fanned on the shot. The other was when Todd Marchant hit the post on an open-ice breakaway scoring chance in the second period. Marchant put a move on Alex Auld, the type of move you’d expect a guy to use in a shootout. Except that Marchant used his speed to outskate two Coyotes to the puck, then put the move on. It was pretty. Too bad for the Ducks it didn’t go in.
Marchant did get end up getting his first goal of the season earlier in the period.
In addition to the shortcomings of the defense in front of him, Ilya Bryzgalov was reacting a little slow in the eyes of Randy Carlyle: “I didnt realize that the (Ed) Jovanovski shot (a 2nd-period goal) had gone in off (Steven) Reinprechts pants, but I thought the one goal where [Bryzgalov] got his stick caught behind, those things are signs to me. Four goals on 14 shots, 15 shots, somewhere in that area when you do those things, youre not thinking about the individual goalie. The way I think about it, Im thinking about the other 20 guys that can stop the bleeding or provide some sort of a wake-up call to the other guys.
Irony department: The Ducks’ five-goal outburst comes the day after this story.
Also:
Something to keep an eye on: In the locker room between the second and third periods Wednesday, Mathieu Schneider said the team talked about how penalties were become momentum-killers.
Shane Hnidy met the wall late in the third period, he skated off gingerly, and I didn’t see him come back out the rest of the way. My memory of the play was erased by the dramatic conclusion to the game, so I didn’t think to ask Carlyle after the game if Hnidy was OK. Will get the update at tomorrow’s practice.
Token Wayne Gretzky quote: “We had a 19-year-old kid get three goals. That’s pretty special for him. … Either you’re a natural goal-scorer or you’re not. You have to be a little bit lucky to be a goal scorer and Peter (Mueller) is.”
Ducks record: 6-8-3, tied for second in the Pacific Division.