Weekend Recap; Ducks Win Two, Lose One, Make Cuts

 

It was a pleasant surprise to be able to see two of the three Ducks games this weekend, with the game in Vancouver televised on the NHL Network in the US and the Kings game being streamed live on the Kings website.  All preseason games should be streamed like the Kings did that game last night – overlaying the radio broadcast on top of the Jumbotron feed.  Of course it may have taken a bite out of the gate, had it been widely advertized, but still it was a nice gesture to the fans, by an organization, as hard as it is to admit, that is doing a lot of things right.

Also a pleasure was not being able to see the game at San Jose.  Even listening to that bloodbath was difficult.  It was a more veteran Sharks lineup than the one that hammered the Ducks in Anaheim on Wednesday, but the 5-1 final score wasn’t the problem.  The problem was that for the second game in a row Randy Carlyle dressed the RPG line and got nothing. 

Another problem, the shot total, 49-14.  Much like a preseason game, usually the shot total isn’t something you want to put too much stock into as it isn’t necessarily a reflection of quality.  However, when the disparity is that large something has to be said for it.  Listening to Steve Carroll and Dan Wood, you’d think the Ducks never left their own zone.  It’s hard to tell exactly how ugly the scene was just from the radio, but I think I know too much already.

Saturday’s game was a different story, as Carlyle dressed almost a complete lineup against a youthful Canucks roster. 

Ryan-Getzlaf-Perry

Blake-Koivu-Selanne

Gordon-Cogliano-Smith-Pelly

Jacques-Macenauer-Parros

Visnovsky-Sbisa

Fowler-Beauchamin

Brookbank-Smaby

Hiller

Carlyle stacked the lineup, saying that in the previous games he didn’t give the young guys a chance to gain any confidence by throwing them out there all alone with only one line of veterans per game (at the most).  Apparently it worked, because the Ducks beat on Vancouver all game long.  Jonas Hiller played two periods of shutout hockey; The Ducks true number one power play got some time together and cashed in for one goal.   

Cam Fowler’s game was most helped by the veteran laden lineup.  He had a goal and an assist and without having to worry about getting caught defensively he was able to play his game more freely, in my opinion. 

It was a good looking game, but again we can’t put too much stock into it as Vancouver’s only real veteran was Marco Sturm, who may or may not make their opening night roster.

Sunday morning brought six more cuts.  Sent back to Syracuse were Rick Schofield, Mark Bell, Mathieu Carle, Matt Kennedy, and Jake Newton, while Emerson Etem headed back to his Junior team, Medicine Hat of the Western Hockey League.  The surprise of that group has to be Etem. 

Despite, as Carlyle said,  not having much help/confidence from veterans I thought Etem had several flashes of brilliance.  I’m not sure what sending him down without getting that chance to play with a more veteran lineup means.  We didn’t get to see how he performed at San Jose on Saturday, but if playing poorly in that game was the criteria for being cut, there are still a lot of guys on the roster. 

The reasoning could be that he just doesn’t have a slot to fill on the Ducks roster and therefore should be sent back to Juniors to play more minutes and more important minutes.  A player like Smith-Pelly has a shot at being a bottom six player for the Ducks because of his gritty power game.  On the other hand, Etem’s speedy style won’t necessarily be as much of a help in the NHL lineup, especially with Cogliano and possibly Andrew Gordon bringing the afterburners to the third line.

Quickly, the Kings game was very impressive, considering that it was almost the opposite of the Vancouver game in that the Kings dressed a full lineup for their final home preseason game and the Ducks naturally rested their top line guys who had all played the night before.

Andrew Gordon seems to be taking a real shot at making this lineup.  He had his third goal of the preseason Sunday and I have to say I like the combination of Gordon, Cogliano and Smith-Pelly.  The former two can back the opposition off with speed while Smith-Pelly does the dirty work in the corners and cleans up in front of the net.  We’ll still have to wait and see if Smith-Pelly is really ready for that, but Carlyle seems to be ready to give him the chance. 

The worst part of the Kings game was Andrei Loktionov’s goal.  Not only because it was against the Ducks, they were ahead 3-0 with 15 minutes to play in a preseason game.  Who cares?  Rather it was the creepy feeling I got reading his name in the box score as Lokomotiv.  It’s the same kind of creepy feeling I get whenever I check the time and it happens to be 9:11.  Even though there’s no real connection, the coincidence is a reminder of shocking tragedy. 

Anyway, it looks like more cuts will follow today as Kyle Palmieri tweeted that he’s on his way back to Syracuse this morning.  This could be a huge day for DSP if he gets one more shot to impress.