In just about every sense that was an ugly game. The style of play was boring, the Sharks dominated the puck possession battle and the few chances that the Ducks had were blown.
It took the Ducks over 15 minutes to register a shot on goal and even that was a dribbler from outside the blue line which drew a Bronx cheer. That did apparently spark them though as they put on a flurry of pressure and Andrew Gordon struck first late in the period.
With the goal, Gordon was the one bright spot. He put on a nasty dangle earlier in the first and I found myself noticing his number 41 more than just about any other Duck, but that’s about all I can say. The game was so boring and dominated by the Sharks that it was hard to pick out one player over another.
Almost everyone else was essentially invisible for the Ducks. Nameless, faceless players floating around going through the motions, which for some reason included starting the game in a strict 1-2-2 neutral zone trap.
The goaltending was really bad and got worse as the game wore on. Jeff Deslauriers started off ok, but completely muffed a clearing attempt along the glass that led to San Jose’s second goal. That just so happened to come after the midway point in the game and he was pulled for Iiro Tarkki as is standard for a preseason game. Tarkki had a rough go of it, giving up copious rebounds, four of which resulted in Sharks goals. If it were up to the four goalies we’ve seen so far the Ducks would quite frankly be screwed, however we still haven’t even seen Dan Ellis so there shouldn’t be much to worry about, barring injury.
Interestingly the Sharks stuck with Thomas Greiss in net for the entire game, despite carrying eight goalies on the roster. I guess Todd McLellan wasn’t interested in splitting 18 shots on goal among two goalies.
Unlike the previous game where Teemu and Saku were split up, the veterans all played together. The RPG line was not particularly inspired however. I would have thought that they’d dominate a very green Shark’s roster, but aside from a shift here or there they showed no signs of being one of, if not the best line in hockey.
On the other side of the spectrum, I was able to catch a little bit of the Penguins/Red Wings game online before leaving for the game and Evgeni Malkin showed that his knee is fine and he’s ready to carry the Pens in Sidney Crosby’s absence. He looked like a man possessed, able to completely control of the game all by himself. One shift he just owned the puck and danced around the Detroit zone like it was a kid’s game. I realized then that it was just the preseason and Detroit probably didn’t dress much of a lineup, but the replay showed that it was Niklas Kronwall chasing Geno around like Wyle E. Coyote.
The good news from the Ducks game though is that there is nothing wrong with Bobby Ryan’s groin. He was skating fine and if there was any hesitation about it he wouldn’t have been in the game anyway. After all, it’s only the preseason. Fifteen days until Helsinki.
District 5 Hockey 