Whoops, they did it again.  Outshot and even outplayed an opponent and still could not win a game.  Not even a game against the bottom dwellers of the Western Conference, the Edmonton Oilers. 

Oilers 4.  Ducks 2.  Well, technically three, but when you put the puck into your own empty net, it does count for the other team.

Given five power play chances, the Ducks could not solve the Oilers more than once.  Mind you, Edmonton has a deplorable 68.4% success rate on the penalty kill, worse than anyone in the NHL.  Probably worse than a lot of AHL teams, too.  Against the Ducks?  It was 80%. 

The Ducks dominated for most of the game, although not all of it, which was their downfall.  Sam Gagner finished off a pass from Ales Hemsky at 6:48 in the second period and Taylor Hall, the #1 overall draft pick in June, made it 2-0 less than two minutes later, deflecting the puck off #12 pick, Cam Fowler's stick.

At that point, the Ducks had outshot the Oilers 25 - 10, but Jonas Hiller had two go behind him.  Devan Dubnyk?  Nothing.  Then again, 50 shots on goal against the Columbus Blue Jackets did not reveal enough goals to win either.

The Ducks ultimately ended up with 40 shots on goal (a total of 90 in the past two games), but got only two goals for their efforts.

"Getting 40 shots isn't relevant if you're just taking shots from the boards and the blue line," grumbled a frustrated Ryan Getzlaf.  "We're getting off shots, but we're not driving inside.  You have to get to the net and create havoc." 

Bobby Ryan scored on the power play at 16:33 of the middle frame after a questionable penalty called on Edmonton.  NHL officials later confirmed that no, putting the puck through the photographer's hole in the glass is NOT a delay of game.  But even that break was not enough for Anaheim. 

Saku Koivu, who continues to blossom in a Ducks uniform after such a slow start last season, scored just :22 seconds later to tie up the game. 

Things remained tied until Hemsky put a beautiful shot up and over Hiller's left shoulder at 13:29 of the third period.  That was it for the Ducks. 

An empty net, vacated by Hiller, could not be solved by the Oilers.  Former Duck, Ryan Whitney had a perfect opportunity to end the game but flubbed on the shot and missed the wide open net.  Moments later, Perry, behind the Oiler net and trying to center a pass to someone in front of it, managed to get it pass everyone and they all stood watching it careen all the way down the other end and land smack dab in the dead center of the net. 

The Oilers bench was cracking up.  Whitney couldn't do it, but Perry certainly showed him how it was done.  With just :15 seconds left, Perry excused himself and headed straight to the locker room. 

Shortly thereafter, his teammates joined him, while the Oilers celebrated Dubnyk's first win of the season in net.

"The effort is there, but we have to bear down," said Getzlaf. "We’re playing on a little homestand where we have to take advantage of it. We’re going into a break. We have to learn from the mistakes and go forward."

The Ducks now have four days off to learn before meeting up again with the Chicago Blackhawks on their traditional day after Thanksgiving matinee.  Some shop on Black Friday.  The Ducks play the Blackhawks.  Hopefully the results won't make them wish they had been at the mall instead of the ice rink.  They certainly don't need to lose six in a row.

A lot can happen in 24 hours. 

The Ducks, who lost their fourth game in a row on Friday night to Columbus, has been very busy since then.  The Ducks brought up Dan Sexton and Brandon McMillan from Syracuse.  McMillan got his first taste of the NHL by being inserted into the line up on Sunday against the Edmonton Oilers.  Sexton saw his first game back with the Ducks since breaking his nose by blocking a shot at the end of October.

Going the other direction to Syracuse were rookie Kyle Palmieri and defenseman Danny Syvret.  Syvret's travel was not complete after being traded, along with Rob Bordson, to the Philadelphia Flyers.  In return, the Ducks obtained forwards Patrick Maroon and David Laliberte.  Both Maroon and Laliberte will go to Syracuse.

"We were trying to get a little bit of help up front down there," said GM Bob Murray about the trade.  "We’ve had guys in and out of the lineup. We had a chance to get a couple of wingers that we like. You have to give a little to get that. We went out and made the change."

That was not the only activity for the Ducks.

Josh Green was put on waivers, and will have until 9:00am Monday morning to know his fate.

Also, defenseman Andy Sutton was activated off injured reserve after breaking his thumb in the first game of the season against Detroit.   He stated that he was "ecstatic to be back on the ice."

"We’re healthy on defense and a couple of guys aren’t going to play tonight," said Murray.  "I think that is very good in our situation right now. It’s proven you need defensemen because of injuries. We’re going to need players. I like our defense right now. I have no problem. Brookbank can play right wing too. You can carry a swing guy like that. Don’t ever forget about that."

The Ducks philosophy is you can never have too many defensemen, and now that the veterans are all healthy, it's a good sign for Anaheim's blue line.

After a three game road trip that was not horrible, but only earned two out of six points with two overtime losses, the Ducks were looking forward to coming home.  Seven of the next eight games to be played in their own building where they were 7-1-1 on the season was comforting enough. 

Rather than start the homestand with a win, the Columbus handed the Ducks only their second regulation loss in the building with a 4-3 victory for the Blue Jackets.

It was not for lack of effort, as the Ducks had 50 shots on goal against Steve Mason, who won the Calder Trophy two seasons ago (beating out Bobby Ryan as rookie of the year).   Half of those shots came in the third period alone, not unlike Wednesday's game against Minnesota when the Ducks outshot the Wild 16-2 in the final period.  Mason was back in Calder form and he helped his team take home two points.

"Mason held the net well and he smothered rebounds pretty well," Ryan said. "But when you get 50 shots, you should get more than three goals. And that falls on us - not on him being so good. It's frustrating, obviously, but we've been on the other end of that, too."

As always Ryan was bluntly honest,a refreshing quality when most answers from players seem to be pre-scripted and politically correct.   Ryan was right.  You should get more than three goals when you have that many shots.

Rick Nash got the Blue Jackets on the board at 11:02 of the first period.  Then again, when hasn't Nash scored against the Ducks? 

The Ducks were handed a 5 on 3 opportunity at the end of the first period and wasted no time with the fresh sheet of ice going into the second to even up the game at 1-1.  Saku Koivu finished off a perfect pass from Teemu Selanne just :17 seconds into the period.  The point gave Selanne the 1282nd point of his career, giving him sole possession of 32nd all time in scoring, passing Alex Delvecchio. 

Selanne left the game with a sore groin in the middle of the third period and did not return.  Hopefully it will be nothing serious, as the ageless wonder is second on the Ducks in points with 22, just one behind Corey Perry and one more than Ryan Getzlaf.  With the second line clicking as it has been, the Ducks can ill afford to lose Selanne for an extended period of time.

The Ducks took the lead for the only time in the game with a short-handed goal from Ryan at 5:01, the first of his career.  The lead was short-lived when the Blue Jackets tied things up again on the power play just :25 seconds later with a goal from Chris Clark.

Jakub Voracek made it 3-2 at 13:48, finishing off Sami Pahlsson's rebound behind Jonas Hiller.  The Ducks had just turned over the puck as Kyle Palmieri had stumbled to the ice in the neutral zone.  A fluke goal by Mike Commodore gave Columbus their eventual game winner at 16:56. 

Perry got his 10th of the year at 7:22 of the third period, pulling the Ducks back within one goal.  Despite all 25 shots in that period alone, nothing else went behind Mason and the game was over.

"We didn’t play with the desperation that was necessary for 60 minutes," said coach Randy Carlyle. "It seemed like we got up 2-1 and sat back. They didn’t change what they were doing. They just played a grinding road game."

The Ducks should not slack off against Western Conference bottom dwellers, the Edmonton Oilers, on Sunday.  Past history has shown that the Ducks rise up to playing good teams and tend to sink when playing poor teams.  If the Ducks want to break a four game losing streak, they cannot take their Sunday opponent lightly.

Ducks vs. Stars - take three.  The first two went to the Ducks, but for the Stars, the third time was the charm.   Having rested three full days between games helped. 

Things started off pretty even, despite a more physical game from the Dallas.  After a great short handed scoring chance by Todd Marchant late in the first period, the Stars came back on the next shift to make it 1-0 on a power play goal from Steve Ott at 14:43. 

The Ducks were able to tie up the game at 8:29 of the second period on a power play goal of their own from Corey Perry.  It was the only shot that got past Kari Lehtonen, who had 26 saves on the evening.

The game remained tied until a fluke goal in the third period.  Cam Fowler, sporting the new #4 (yes, he's arrived), made a rookie error and turned over the puck to the Stars.  Brad Richards popped the puck over Jonas Hiller's shoulder and it crossed the line, just barely, to give Dallas the lead at 8:24.  While originally ruled no goal, the review clearly showed a little glint of white ice, indicating all of the rubber disk had crossed the line.  Whether by a millimeter or clearly in the back of the net, a goal is a goal. 

The Stars broke a three game losing streak.  The Ducks got their first regulation loss in eight games. 

The team now goes back north again (who scheduled this wacky geographical road trip?), this time to play Minnesota.   A win there would give them three points out of six on the road trip.  A loss would indicate yet another unsuccessful jaunt on the road. 

At 20 games into the season, the Ducks need all the points they can get at this juncture.  Other teams have played far fewer games (again, who scheduled this?!) and will certainly take advantage later on to catch up in the standings.  The points do matter.

In other notes:  Troy Bodie was put on waivers on Monday morning and was claimed by the Carolina Hurricanes.  Bodie had not played since October 29 and had been a healthy scratch for the Ducks since then.

The Ducks ended their six game winning streak with an overtime loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday evening.  That means that technically, they are still undefeated in regulation for seven games.  Realistically, a loss is a loss, but this one was not a bad one and they still earned a point for their efforts.

The first of a three game road trip, the Ducks were supposed to be the more rested team, with Chicago playing in Nashville the night before.  No such luck.

Patrick Kane got a power play goal at 3:37 of the first period, but Corey Perry tied the game up just :57 seconds later.  Perry stole the puck from the Blackhawks in their defensive zone and put it behind Corey Crawford. 

Things were evenly matched after the first.  After the second, it was much more lopsided, in favor of the supposedly tired team.  Chicago outshot the Ducks 16-3 in the middle period, and were rewarded for their efforts with another power play goal, this one from Marian Hossa at 11:24. 

Note to Ducks - don't take penalties against the third best power play in the NHL.  Not when they have that much offensive capability. 

Perry tied up the game at 3:36 of the third period with his second goal of the game.  The Ducks were then handed a glorious opportunity to finish things off with a late power play.

Even with some power play time rolled into overtime, the Ducks could not finish their task.  Instead, Victor Stalberg deflected a shot from Duncan Keith with just :28 seconds left before a shootout. 

Jonas Hiller stopped 40 shots, but he could not stop #41.  It was pretty amazing that he was playing at all, after suffering a cut under his eye in practice the day before that required four stitches. 

Now the Ducks head off to Dallas to meet up with their division rivals for the third time this season.  The Ducks have won the first two against the Stars, which is encouraging, but if they do not find more energy between now and Tuesday, they will have a difficult time getting more points.

 

The Ducks continued their winning ways with a 4-2 victory over the Dallas Stars, extending their winning streak to six games in a row. 

The Ducks are now 10-7-1 on the season and in a quirky note, every single one of those victories have been by only one goal.  The two exceptions?  Both games against Dallas.  This one and their first match-up on October 26 that resulted in a 5-2 victory.

Granted, the Stars were a tired team after playing the Los Angeles Kings the night before.  Nonetheless, Dallas is always a dangerous team and games against your division rivals are extremely important.

The Ducks took advantage of the Stars in the first period and came out hard.  In fact, it was one of their best starts all year.   They outshot the Stars 18-5 in the first twenty minutes, surpassing their shot total of 14 for their game against the Islanders.  Unfortunately they only had a tie game to show for their efforts.

Saku Koivu remained hot, scoring his fourth goal in five games at 13:56.  Koivu, Teemu Selanne and Jason Blake continue to show their chemistry and have developed into a solid second line for coach Randy Carlyle. 

Teemu made a great pass and it hit my skate and went in," Koivu reflected. "Luckily it was called a goal."

The lead was short-lived when Brandon Segal tied up the game at 14:52, putting the puck past Jonas Hiller. 

"It's not easy," said Hiller.  "I'm used to getting more shots.  You have to stay focused."

Hiller remained focused enough, and ended up making 27 saves in the game.  The most important had to have been on Jamie Benn's penalty shot midway through the third period.  Hiller was beaten on Benn's deke, but still managed to get his pads onto the ice to prevent the puck from going into the net.  A little more lift from Benn and the game might have been different.

Instead, the Ducks maintained their two goal lead, thanks to goals from Ryan Getzlaf at 1:53 of the final period and a power play tally from Bobby Ryan at 9:36.

Brad Richards did bring the Stars back within one goal after he received a weird bounce that landed right on his stick.  Into the net it went at 16:22. 

Apparently the Ducks don't want to have boring blow out games, but rather keep the fans in their seats until the bitter end.  They also made it interesting by giving the Stars a power play with just 3:02 remaining, even pulling Kari Lehtonen with a minute left to play. 

The puck taunted and teased at the open net, but Ryan finally sealed the game up at 19:46 by placing it firmly in the wide open net. 

For the Stars, all they could do was wonder what went wrong again.  A penalty shot here, one of at least three clanging post shots there, and the game would have been a different ending.

"We'd like to think we're better than a .500 hockey club," said captain Brendan Morrow. "But we're not -- we're not finding ways to win games."

The Ducks are finding ways to win games.  Ugly ones.  Mildly unattractive ones.  Ones with errors.  But they are finding ways to win and hold on.  And in the end, a win is a win.

Good, solid goaltending from both Hiller and Curtis McElhinney have been key.  Penalty killing has been exceptional as well.  Secondary scoring coming into play.  An ability to persevere, be patient and stick to the game plan.  Better discipline.  All of the little things are adding up to big results.

Six in a row and time to take the show on the road for three games - Chicago, a revisit to Dallas, and a trip to Minnesota.  If the Ducks can keep earning points, they will be in a much better position moving forward.  For now, they can be content in knowing that they are headed in the right direction after a disastrous start.

Four in a row for the Anaheim Ducks.  Would it be five in a row against a struggling New York Islanders team, who had lost seven straight?  

Despite being outshot and outplayed, the Ducks still managed to pull off a 1-0 win giving them five straight wins and much needed points in the standings.  Pretty it was not, but you get two points for a win, no matter how ugly.

The Islanders outshot the Ducks 27-14, holding Anaheim to only one shot on goal in the first period.  That shot, courtesy of Saku Koivu, did not come until 18:14 had elapsed. 

Koivu's second shot of the game was the most important shot.  Cam Fowler placed the puck perfectly on Koivu's stick and all Koivu had to do was shoot it up and over Dwayne Roloson at 3:40 of the third period.   Roloson was a familiar face, having spent plenty of time in Edmonton's net.

Koivu has finally warmed up as a Duck and now has a four game point streak with four goals and six points in that time period.  Coincidentally, it was Koivu who scored the OT-winning goal (ninth of his career) the last time the Islanders visited Honda Center on March 19, 2010, in a 5-4 victory.

"It's never easy to play back-to-backs, especially when the other team had a couple of days off," said Koivu after the game.  "They were coming hard at us in the first period.  You were able to tell that we didn't have the jump that we usually have.  You’re going to have nights where you’re not going to feel your best. Good teams find ways to win these games. We did tonight."

They may not have had the jump or the energy, but they had the determination.

One person who did have some jump in their step was defenseman Luca Sbisa.  Just recalled from Syracuse this morning (as in 1:00 in the morning), Sbisa added a spark and physicality to the blue line and earned the third star of the game for his efforts.

Sbisa did not have a great training camp and seemed to vanish in games earlier this season before being sent down to the AHL.  His time there was well spent and he acknowledged that he had been "overthinking" his game, rather than just going out and enjoying playing.  

If he continues to play at that level, Sbisa will stay a lot longer in Anaheim.

Coach Randy Carlyle knew it was not going to be an easy game after the emotion filled nail-biters the past two efforts.

We knew it was going to be tough," Carlyle acknowledged. "We were playing a young, energized Islander team. Having played last night in San Jose, we knew it would be a tough struggle. These are the type of games that you almost have to win. In our situation, we couldn’t accept anything other than a win. That was our focus."

Anaheim will now focus on the next one - another Pacific Division rival, Dallas, comes to town on Friday. 

In other notes:  Danny Syvret was sent to Syracuse, along with Dan Sexton and Matt Beleskey.  Both Sexton and Beleskey were taken off IR - Sexton for a broken nose and Beleskey for a concussion.  This leaves Andy Sutton (broken thumb), Kyle Chipchura (concussion), Joffrey Lupul (back) and Sheldon Brookbank (strained hamstring) as the remaining wounded in Anaheim. 

The Ducks came into San Jose with a three game winning streak, their first streak of the season.  The best news for Anaheim was that they would not have to face Joe Thornton, who was finishing up the second game of a two game suspension for an illegal hit on St. Louis winger, David Perron.

Better news was that the Ducks were able to rely on Jonas Hiller in goal to help them steal two points in a 3-2 overtime victory against the Sharks.  Hiller was called upon to make 39 saves, 21 of which came in the third period of the game.

Torrey Mitchell scored at 1:42 of the first period and Dany Heatley nearly made it 2-0, except the puck was batted down with a high stick.  It looked like it could be another blowout game for the Ducks.

The Ducks recovered and persevered and Jason Blake tipped in Toni Lydman's shot at 9:42 to tie up the game.  In the second period, Corey Perry took advantage of a juicy rebound and put it behind Antero Niittymaki at 8:27 to put the Ducks ahead of San Jose.

Coming out with a vengeance in the third period, it was all Sharks.  Having a couple of power plays certainly helped and after the second one of the period expired, Devin Setoguchi had the game tied up again at 9:05.  At that point, the Ducks did not have any shots on goal in the period.

If the Sharks continued to dominate, there was no way that the Ducks would have had any hope of any points out of the game, but Hiller remained solid in net and the Ducks continued to work and not self-destruct.

Overtime was winding down and it appeared the Ducks would be headed to a shootout, but taking advantage of a face off win by Saku Koivu, the Ducks finished off the Sharks in dramatic fashion for the second game in a row.  The puck got back to Lubomir Visnovsky at the point, who aimed it towards the net.  It found the back of the net with just :32.6 seconds remaining.

Another unattractive win in a game that was not perfect, but they still found a way to get things done.   But a win is a win and every point counts.

To show how important each point is, the Ducks now stand in fifth place in the Western Conference and are second place in the Pacific Division.  Just a few games ago, they were 14th in the conference and at the bottom of their division.  Winning matters and points against division rivals matter even more.

They went to San Jose with a three game winning streak and now the Ducks come home to Anaheim with a four game winning streak.  Let's not stop the progress now.

It might have taken a while to win two in a row, but the Ducks wasted no time winning three in a row.   An exciting 5-4 victory over the Nashville Predators, with just :1.7 seconds left in regulations continued to build the Ducks confidence level.

"It's great," beamed Lubomir Visnovsky, who had one of the five goals.  "Everyone feel much better.  Good for team.  More confidence."

The game went back and forth with the Predators matching every goal the Ducks scored.

Teemu Selanne wasted no time getting the Ducks on the board with an easy goal :52 seconds into the first period.  With Anders Lindback dealing with the first shot at the side of the net, Selanne tapped in the easy rebound into a net that was nearly empty.

Nashville's response?  Patric Hornqvist redirected a shot behind Jonas Hiller at 2:34 to tie things up.

Saku Koivu put the Ducks ahead once more at 10:49, but another Ducks turnover gave the Predators their second goal at 17:16.  This time it was Steve Sullivan who put them on the board.

The second period remained scoreless, but the tit for tat resumed in the third period.

Visnovsky broke the tie again just :49 seconds into the final period, with great work from the fourth line.  Cody Franson tied things up after the Ducks could not clear the puck from their zone at 6:15.

Koivu got his second goal of the game and 700th career point at 10:05 on the power play, a goal that was almost Toni Lydman's third goal of the year had Koivu not tipped it.

Could the Ducks hold on to the 4-3 lead?  Of course not!  Cal O'Reilly got the Predators fourth and final goal at 16:13 after a lackluster power play by the Ducks.

It appeared that things would be headed into overtime when the unlikely happened. With a mere 1.7 seconds remaining on the clock, defenseman Paul Mara finished off a great play by Bobby Ryan and Corey Perry.  A heartbreaker for the Predators, but cause for joy and celebration for the Ducks.  The Predators would not be able to tie things up again.

"It feels great," said Mara, who earned his first point as a Duck.  "It's been a long time since I scored a goal."

February 11, 2009, to be exact.  Two seasons ago.

"The main thing is we got those two points," said Koivu.

Those two points and the win moved the Ducks to the .500 mark, the first time since the season began.  It also nudged them ever so slightly up the standings to 10th place in the Western Conference.

The Ducks now head to San Jose for a game on Tuesday before returning home to the Honda Center for two more tilts in front of the home crowd.

The Anaheim Ducks took nearly one month to put together two wins in a row.  They finally did that with a come from behind overtime win over a tough Tampa Bay team and a victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins, who had Sidney Crosby doing his best to carry his team.

Taking two steps forward in a row is positive progress for a team that has been both good and bad.  Scratch that.  At times they have been horrible.

Have they finally found the key needed for success?

"I think the most important thing that we have to reflect back on in last night's hockey game was our start," said coach Randy Carlyle after defeating Tampa Bay.  "We had a decent start.  That's really the key.  You aren't going to have a good game if you don't have a good start.   Sometimes it takes you a while to get it going, but our hockey club cannot afford to have a bad start.  We are looking for more of those starts in the upcoming games."

The Ducks had a strong, passionate start to their game against the Penguins, a team that you cannot afford to fall behind.  Struggling or not, the Penguins have the ability to burn you and after a complete stinker of a game against Dallas, where Crosby took on a fighting role rather than scoring, you knew they wanted to rebound.

"They aren't going to be a happy group," observed Carlyle.  "I think they're always dangerous."

The Ducks had a 3-0 lead over the Penguins, but even that kind of lead is not insurmountable.  In prior games, Anaheim has blown leads.  Crosby came back with two goals, but it was not enough.

"We gave ourselves a chance," said Crosby.  "It was a better game.  Tonight we wanted to bounce back.  Our efforts need to be like that.  That's why we need to be consistent, because you can't not give yourself a chance to win."

The Ducks are also struggling to find that consistency.  Both the Penguins and Ducks have identical records at one game under the .500 mark with a 6-7-1 record.  It shows there is room for plenty of improvement.

"We're looking to build, more than anything, for confidence-sake," veteran Todd Marchant commented.  "We are capable, when we play our game, to play with the best teams in this league. A lot of times these are things that go a long way and snowball in the right direction."

So far this season, every win has been a one-goal victory with the exception of a 5-2 defeat over Dallas.  The Ducks will have to continue to hold on and eke out victories.

Being able to string together two wins is a starting point.

"Hopefully we've found our stride and we can go from here," said Bobby Ryan.  "I think we've recognized the situation.  We had some points that got away from us in the past few.  This one was important for us."

Right now, all the points are important.  Everything is very tight in the Western Conference, with only five points separating the Los Angeles Kings, who are first, and the Ducks, who are 11^th.  Every win or loss can move you significantly in the standings, as the Ducks have found out.  Two wins have moved the Ducks from 14^th to 11^th and put them ahead of San Jose and Phoenix in the Pacific Division after being in last place.

The Ducks can ill afford to be slow learners and take another step backward after working so hard to get to this point.

They also have to realize there is much work to be done.

"We haven't been enamored with positives this year," said Carlyle bluntly.  "We haven't felt very good about ourselves and rightfully so.  Our record indicates that.  Hopefully this is a starting point for our group.  There are areas in our game that we're much better at, but there is still some cleaning up to do."

Despite the cleaning up needed, such a reducing turnovers, improving in the face-off circle, limiting opponents shots on goal, not allowing the opposition to gain momentum, the Ducks do know one thing for sure.  Have a good start.

If having a good start is the key, they need to take that key and put it in the ignition right from the first face-off.    Too often the Ducks have stalled out, unable to jump start their game until the second or third period, and by then it is too late.

As the Ducks have seen, a good start has a better chance of finishing with a win.  Don't lose the key now and don't let up on the gas.