Posted by Mark at 5:53 PM
Hockey Bonanza!!!!
Ducks Clean House As they Sweep Homestand!
Ducks edge Barons in shootout to extend home win streak to five
CINCINNATI, Ohio -- Chris Kunitz scored the deciding goal in the overtime shootout and had a goal and an assist in regulation to lift the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks to a 4-3 victory over the Cleveland Barons Wednesday at Cincinnati Gardens.
Stanislav Chistov and Tomas Malec also scored for Cincinnati, which has won five straight home games for the first time since February 19-March 1, 2003 and moved into a three-way tie with Grand Rapids and San Antonio for third place in the West Division.
Joffrey Lupul, a first-round pick by Anaheim in 2002, recorded a pair of assists for his team-leading 10th multiple-point game. The Ducks improved to 9-1-0-0 this season when Lupul has a multiple-point effort.
Ilya Bryzgalov stopped 20 shots to improve to 5-0-0 in his last six starts.
Christian Erhoff, Ryane Clowe and Josh Prudden scored for the Barons, who fell to 3-7-0-1 in its last 11 games. Marcel Goc, a first-round pick by San Jose in 2001, assisted on all three Cleveland goals.
Dmitri Patzold turned aside 29 shots in the loss for Cleveland, which is 2-1-0-1 on its six-game, three-team road trip.
Cleveland........................................0-0-3-0=3
Cincinnati........................................1-1-1-1=4
First period: 1. Cin, Chistov 10 (Konopka, Holmqvist), 12:59 (ppg).
Second period: 2. Cin, Kunitz 7 (Lupul, Brent), 10:14 (ppg).
Third period: 3. Cle, Erhoff 9 (Goc, Conboy), 5:28 (ppg). 4. Cle, Clowe 9 (Goc, Fahey), 9:13.
5. Cin, Malec 2 (Lupul, Kunitz), 14:26. 6. Cle, Prudden 9 (Goc), 19:07.
Overtime: No scoring.
Shootout: Cincinnati.
Shots on goal: Cleveland 8-5-7-3=23; Cincinnati 6-7-13-5=31.
Power play opportunities: Cleveland 1-for-8; Cincinnati 2-for-9. Goaltenders: Cleveland,
Patzold (31 shots, 29 saves; record 10-10-2); Cincinnati, Bryzgalov (23 shots, 20 saves; record 11-8-1). A: 2,588. Referee: St. Pierre. Linesmen: Gould, Lord. Records: Cleveland 18-20-1-3; Cincinnati 19-21-0-2.
Ducks rally to defeat Dogs in OT
CINCINNATI, Ohio --- Shane O'Brien scored 2:52 into overtime to lift the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks to a 4-3 victory over the Hamilton Bulldogs Friday at Cincinnati Gardens.
Joffrey Lupul had a goal and two assists for the Ducks, who rallied from a 3-0 third period deficit to extend their home winning streak to six games, tying a franchise record. It was the 11th multiple-point game of the season for Lupul, who leads Cincinnati in scoring with 36 points (14 goals, 22 assists).
Pierre Parenteau and Michael Holmqvist also scored for the Ducks, who have gone 13-7-0-0 since December 3.
Ilya Bryzgalov surrendered all three Hamilton goals before being pulled in favor of Frederic Cassivi in the second period. Cassivi stopped all 13 shots he faced for the win.
Gavin Morgan, Corey Locke and Phillippe Plante scored for Hamilton, which snapped a two-game winning streak.
Dan Ellis, a Dallas Stars prospect, finished with 27 saves in the losing effort.
Hamilton................................2-1-0-0=3
Cincinnati..............................0-0-3-1=4
First period: 1. Ham, Morgan 6 (Lambert), 14:10. 2. Ham, Locke 13 (Ferland, Carpentier), 15:32.
Second period: 3. Ham, Plante 3 (Higgins, Plekanec), 3:46 (ppg).
Third period: 4. Cin, Parenteau 4 (Lupul), 2:08. 5. Cin, Lupul 14 (Kunitz, Brent), 11:02 (ppg). 6. Cin, Holmqvist 10 (Lupul, Konopka), 11:02 (ppg).
Overtime: 7. Cin, O'Brien 2 (Holmqvist, Hankinson), 2:52.
Shots on goal: Hamilton 5-10-6=21; Cincinnati 4-11-14-2=31.
Power-plays: Hamilton 1-for-9; Cincinnati 2-for-8. Goaltenders: Hamilton, Ellis (31 shots, 27 saves; record 6-13-1); Cincinnati, Bryzgalov (23:46; 8 shots, 5 saves), Cassivi (39:06; 13 shots, 13 saves; record 7-12-0). A: 3,612. Referee: O'Rourke. Linesmen: Dunne, Phillips.
Hamilton 17-18-5-4; Cincinnati 20-21-0-1.
Ducks thrash Wolves to extend home win streak to franchise record seven games
CINCINNATI, Ohio -- Zenon Konopka had a goal and two assists and Frederic Cassivi finished with 30 saves to lead the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks to a 6-1 victory over the Chicago Wolves Saturday at Cincinnati Gardens.
Dustin Penner, Shane O'Brien, Chris Kunitz, Joffrey Lupul also scored for Cincinnati, which set a franchise record with its seventh straight home win.
The Ducks, who have won three in a row and six of their last eight, moved past Grand Rapids into into sole possession of third place in the West Division. They trail second-place Chicago by seven points.
Tommi Santala had the lone goal for the Wolves, who have lost three straight games and four of their last five.
Michael Garnett had 25 saves in the losing effort for Chicago, which has surrendered 18 goals in its last three games.
Chicago...........................0-0-1=1
Cincinnati.........................2-2-2=6
First period: 1. Cin, Penner 5 (Stepp, O'Brien), 9:03. 2. Cin, Konopka 10 (Canzanello, Chistov), 17:58.
Second period: 3. Cin, O'Brien 3 (Konopka, Holmqvist), 14:21. 4. Cin, Kunitz 8, 19:22.
Third period: 5. Chi, Santala 4 (Sipotz, Flache), 6:38 (ppg). 6. Cin, Lupul 15 (Konopka, Rome), 11:34 (ppg). 7. Cin, Pohanka 4 (Holmqvist, Chistov), 11:34.
Shots on goal: Chicago 10-15-6=31; Cincinnati 13-8-9=30.
Power-play opportunities: Chicago 1-for-7; Cincinnati 1-for-8. Goaltenders: Chicago, Garnett (31 shots, 25 saves; record 3-3-0); Cincinnati, Cassivi (31 shots, 30 saves; record 8-12-0). A: 6,177. Referee: O'Rourke. Linesmen: Mallin, Phillips.
Mark's Hockey Remarks
What an exciting homestand! We achieved a franchise record for consecutive home wins, and in dramatic fashion. I was sure the Ducks had the game in hand Wednesday, as Ilja was dominating the Barons. Then, the defense got a little lax and Cleveland came back. The score was tied 3-3 going into overtime. That yielded nothing and it was on to the shootout. Ilja stood strong, and the Ducks tore through the Cleveland goalie like he was tissue paper. What an excellent game, all around!
Friday's game was 2 periods of devastation ended by a period and a bit of determination and grit. Bryzgalov looked off-kilter as he gave up 3 goals in the first period. The Ducks Power play continued to aggravate the home fans by being more concerned with pretty passes than with peppering the goalie with puck. In the first period, the Ducks managed 2 shots despite having 3 power play opportunities. Cassivi was very strong in net for the Ducks, and is doing great in the backup role. The game was pretty much lost until the last 10 minutes of the game.
Despite the Bulldogs having an extra player in the referee O'Rourke, who was a horrible official, the Ducks played with true grit and tied the game to send it to overtime. Watching Dman Shane O'Brien's dad rejoice at the goals and do his happy dance was so awesome.
Then, the overtime came. Reminiscent of the Mighty Ducks movie, the Ducks skated up the ice, with Holmqvist with the puck. He dumped it between his legs to O'Brien, who blasted the puck past the goalie for the win. The Ducks rejoiced on the ice, and you could tell there was some momentum building. The Mighty Bulldogs were humiliated in less than 15 minutes.
Saturday's game was an offensive explosion. Michael Garnett was like a deer in the headlights; he didn't know what hit him. Dustin Penner showed the goalscoring that got him his contract with Anaheim, and the guys continued to play with grit.
Unfortunately, we still had O'Rourke as a ref, who called penalties on the Ducks for breathing on the Wolves. It was disgraceful. Undaunted, our guys outworked the Wolves en route to a convincing victory. Hopefully, this will be the start of a HUGE run and we can return to the playoffs and finish what we started last year.
The Ducks next host the Milwaukee Admirals this Friday, January 28th, at the hockey barn of bedlam.
This was Mark, thanks for reading.
