It's often said that a fight can turn around a hockey game. This was definitely true Tuesday night in St. Paul.
Entering this season, Minnesota Wild forward John Scott had three NHL regular season fights to his credit. Anaheim's George Parros was the veteran of 82. It may have seemed odd, then, for Scott to challenge Parros to a scrap in the third period Tuesday. However, the Ducks led 3-0 at the time, and the Wild were almost literally going through the motions in their home opener. Oh, how things can change with one punch. Video after the jump.
That said, the defensive corps will still be led by a grizzled, accomplished veteran. Scott Niedermayer's agent has informed the Ducks that their captain will return for an 18th NHL season.
No one will ever mistake the Anaheim Ducks for a group of Lady Byng candidates. They're not afraid to impose their physical will, and they're willing to cross the line in order to accomplish it.
The Detroit Red Wings aren't this type of team. They would prefer to skate their opponents into submission. Of course, this isn't stopping the Ducks from accusing their opponents of dirty hockey.
Tuesday night the Red Wings threw everything they could at Jonas Hiller and the Ducks defense; heck, there might have even been a kitchen sink thrown in there somewhere, as the Wings put 46 shots on the young netminder compared to only 23 going the other way at Chris Osgood.
In the end, the Wings would lose, 2-1, but not after the Ducks got some last-second help from referee Brad Watson. Watson prematurely blew his whistle, disallowing a potential game tying goal from Marian Hossa with under a minute to go in the game. Video, plus more, after the jump.
Surely, NBC executives were grateful for the work of Anaheim Duck Todd Marchant. After all, they were one period of extra-time hockey away from having to pre-empt the start of prime-time programming. Being that this is May, a major ratings period in television, this isn't exactly a wonderful proposition. Even the biggest hockey fan has to admit that there isn't a huge number coming to you when you air a hockey game.
Those who were watching, though, were treated to a classic. The Ducks and Red Wings gave us our first multiple-overtime game of these playoffs, and one can only hope it's a sign of things to come in this hotly-contested series.
Two years ago, a much more heralded Anaheim Ducks team took out Detroit on their way to a Stanley Cup. This time, the Ducks enter a series against the Red Wings as perhaps the most-feared eighth seed in NHL playoff history. That said, they're still an eighth seed, and a decided underdog. Is this the end of "Cinderella"?
Hostilities began when the puck dropped, and in a penalty-happy Game 6, the Ducks took better advantage of the man advantage and knocked the top-seeded Sharks out of the playoffs.
San Jose, which finished with a league-best 117 points, fell 4-1 at the Honda Center and became the fourth President's Trophy winning team to fall in the first round. Perennial disappointments who have yet to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals, the Sharks do not have a good relationship with sixth games in playoff series, and are now 2-13 overall and 1-7 on the road in those games.
Patrick Marleau has borne the brunt of the criticism during San Jose's recent postseason disappointments, and that carried right into the first two games of the Sharks' first-round series against the Anaheim Ducks.
That is until the Sharks' captain came up with the game-deciding goal in Tuesday night's 4-3 victory over Anaheim at the Honda Center. Marleau's tip-in from the slot came with 10:33 left in the third period and the Sharks on a power play after Corey Perry was called for hooking San Jose's Dan Boyle.
That gave the Sharks their fourth one-goal lead of the night, and they held on as Bobby Ryan got off the only shot for Anaheim after the Ducks pulled goalie Jonas Hiller with 1:30 left. The eighth-seeded Ducks lead the series two games to one over the President's Cup winners.
Here's a short video reel I shot on Wednesday afternoon in the Chicago Blackhawks locker room immediately following their practice at Wrigley Field just one day ahead of the 2009 NHL Winter Classic. In this clip, you'll see Brian Campbell, James Wisniewski and Kris Versteeg all answering questions about the weather conditions they'll have to endure on gameday, January 1.
It's often said that a fight can turn around a hockey game. This was definitely true Tuesday night in St. Paul.
The Anaheim Ducks are slowly getting younger, thanks to dynamic players like 
No one will ever mistake the Anaheim Ducks for a group of Lady Byng candidates. They're not afraid to impose their physical will, and they're willing to cross the line in order to accomplish it.
Tuesday night the Red Wings threw everything they could at 
Surely, NBC executives were grateful for the work of Anaheim Duck 
Hostilities began when the puck dropped, and in a penalty-happy Game 6, the Ducks took better advantage of the man advantage and knocked the top-seeded Sharks out of the playoffs.
Patrick Marleau
