There was a lot of hype and expectation coming for the Ducks and Blackhawks game on Wednesday.  Chicago is the number one team in the NHL and Anaheim is close behind at number two.  After another come from behind 4-2 victory over Chicago, the Ducks are looking to take that number one spot. 

With the win, Anaheim is only three points back from Chicago and they are the only team to have beaten Chicago twice this season.  

"They’ve made a statement to run away with it so far, and we’ve quietly just gone about our business," Bobby Ryan said. "This is the first game the media has really hyped what we’ve done. And we’re ok with that. To be three points back with a game in hand is huge.”

It was a battle you don't usually see in the regular season.  This one was late round Stanley Cup playoff worthy.  For the largest crowd ever at Honda Center at 17,610 people, nearly 500 who had to stand for the whole thing, the game did not disappoint.

“I haven’t heard our building like that in a long time," said Ryan. "They had a lot of fans here too, so I think it added to it, and the fans seemed to feed off each other. It was electric. It was great.”

Right from the start, both teams had energy and jump in their step.  Peter Holland got a quick goal at 1:24 to give the Ducks the lead and a great start to the game.  The puck rebounded off the end boards right to Holland's stick, making it easy to put it past Corey Crawford.  Crawford would not yield again until the third period.

Anaheim had a great chance to extend the lead with their first power play opportunity.  Chicago had other ideas.  Jonathan Toews blocked a shot from Sheldon Souray and took off toward Jonas Hiller.  He ignored a couple chops on his hand by Ryan Getzlaf, refusing to give up the puck and scored a beauty of a short handed goal at 3:52.  Tie game. 

The fast pace and high energy game did not stop in the second period.  Nick Leddy's power play goal at 11:54 put the Hawks ahead.  Nice present for his 22nd birthday.

In the third period, it looked like the Hawks were going to take over, especially when Brandon Bollig appeared to have his first NHL goal at 5:57.  In a case of  "the camera doesn't lie," the goal was overturned because Bollig made a distinct kicking motion to get it in the net behind Hiller.

Instead of being 3-1, Blackhawks, it was still 2-1 and the Ducks knew they still had a chance.  Time to wake back up and get back into the game.

The comeback kids came back again. Bobby Ryan tied up the game at 14:33 on a rebound from flu-ridden Ryan Getzlaf.    It was the Ducks fifth shot on goal since midway through the second period. 

At 15:37, Teemu Selanne got his first goal in nine games to give the Ducks the lead.   They never let it go after that.

“It’s a big relief," said Selanne. "Lately I’ve had some bad luck. Today I had so many chances. In the last couple games, luck was not on my side. But it’s always good. That gives me a lot of confidence and it’s a good feeling. But the win was the most important. The good thing is we found a way to win the game.”

On the face off after the goal, Andrew Cogliano earned some warrior points and a trip to the dentist.  Bollig sticked Cogliano in the mouth, leaving Cogliano writhing on the ice, bleeding profusely from the loss of two teeth.  Double minor to Bollig?  Nope.  Somehow the referees "never saw it." 

The Ducks persevered and Sheldon Souray added an empty net goal at 19:39 for the insurance marker. 

There will be a rematch with Chicago in the Windy City on March 29.  Is it possible that game could be even more high energy and important than this one?

For now, the Ducks have 13 wins in a row at the Honda Center and their 14th come from behind win this season. 

Next up are two home games with the Detroit Red Wings. 

In other notes:  Patrick Maroon was signed to a two year contract extension worth $1.15 million.  Brandon McMillan was reassigned to Norfolk of the AHL.

There's no place like home.  Just ask the Anaheim Ducks, who have a 12 game winning streak in their building, their longest ever in franchise history.

“We always want this building to be a tough place to come into," said Ryan Getzlaf.  "Our fans have shown it this year and we’ve shown it. That’s what we want to do down the stretch here. Keep winning our home games and win as many as you can on the road.”

At one point, it looked like the Ducks were going to have no problem with the Sharks, but in the end they hung on for the 5-3 victory on Monday night. 

Francois Beauchemin got his first of two goals at 14:06 of the initial period.  There was bad defense by the Sharks that left everything wide open.  Beauchemin had no problem getting his shot past Antti Niemi to open the scoring.

Dave Steckel, who nearly got his first goal as a Duck earlier in the period, did get his first point with a nice assist to Beauchemin.

The Sharks got back into the game with a late goal by Jacques Demers that somehow made it past a tangle of bodies in front of the net, hit the crossbar and went in behind Viktor Fasth at 19:02.

In between periods it was announced that Corey Perry had signed an eight year contract extension.  Even though Perry was not on the ice (serving game three of his four game suspension), it clearly buoyed his teammates, who poured it on in the second.

Peter Holland got his second of the year from a juicy rebound at 11:09 and :34 seconds later Emerson Etem finally got his first NHL goal.  He'd been oh so close for a while now, and it was nice to see him be rewarded at last.

"It’s about time, " said Etem, still clearly on cloud nine.  "I’ve been waiting a long time and I know the fans have, too.  I knew the goals would come. I’ve been shooting a lot more lately, and I just need to keep that up. It was a great play by [Daniel Winnik], just threading the needle on that pass. I almost ran out of room there. I just hit the panic button a little bit and was able to roof it.”

A couple minutes later, Etem was with Ryan Getzlaf on the penalty kill and had a beautiful assist on Getzlaf's shorthanded goal at 13:55.  4-1 Ducks and things were looking very good.

Then at the end of the second, Patrick Marleau added another late period goal at 19:31 to halve the Ducks lead.

Matt Irwin made it a little scary in the third period with a bounce off of Getzlaf's skate that went into the net at 6:52.  The Sharks were within one and considering their propensity to score late period goals, that should have been more than enough to worry the Ducks.

Ducks held on, with Beauchemin adding an empty net goal at 19:14.  That sealed the deal at 5-3.

The Ducks now get to see how well they match up against the number one team in the NHL, the Chicaco Blackhawks.  They beat them in a shootout earlier in the season.  Can they do it in regulation on Wednesday?

“At the end of the day, it’s only two points, but it’s a big two points," said Teemu Selanne. "Every two points are huge. We want to see where we’re at right now. They’re playing well and we’re playing well.  It’s pretty much whoever wants to win it more."

Here is hoping that the Ducks want it more.

You cannot win them all, but if you can least earn a point when you lose, it feels a little better.  The Ducks did just that in a 2-1 overtime loss to the St. Louis Blues in their final meeting of the regular season.

The Ducks played well for the entire game, with coach Bruce Boudreau stating it was the "best 60 minutes in a long time."   Young Blues netminder, Jake Allen, stood strong against the Ducks, making 27 saves.

Allen could not withstand Anaheim's strong finish to the first period.  Saku Koivu deflected Bryan Allen's shot at 19:40 after a lot of hard work and patience to keep the puck in the Blues zone.  It was the first time in many games that Anaheim actually scored first.

That was all they could garner past Allen.

Kris Russell tied up the game in the second at 12:52.  It was the Blues third power play in a row and you can only fend off so many of those before the other team scores. 

Anaheim did a great job in the third, not even allowing a shot on goal for nearly the first half of the period.  It yielded no advantage for them and the game went to overtime.

Overtime was swift.  Two Ducks players went down on the ice and Chris Stewart waited until Jonas Hiller moved out of position before he struck, just :45 seconds in.    Game over.  Stewart, who has five goals in the past three games, made it look easy. 

"It was a very well played game," said Boudreau. "Sometimes the well-played games aren't the most entertaining games. They got the break at the end of the game. We make an error, they capitalize on it. What are you going to do?   We had chances to score. It didn't go our way tonight."

Nonetheless, earning five out of six points on the road continues to keep the Ducks one of the elite teams.  They now get to play the next five games at home, a place where they have been dominant all season long.  Anaheim has only lost one game at home, and that was their home opener.  Since then, opposing teams do not want to come into their building.

These won't be just any teams.  The Ducks will play the Sharks twice, NHL leading Chicago once and Detroit in two home games in a row.  It doesn't get any easier. 

The Ducks added some depth at center by acquiring veteran David Steckel from the Toronto Maple Leafs.  In exchange, the Leafs received local Orange County boy, winger Ryan Lasch, and a seventh-round draft pick in 2014.

Steckel, 31, only appeared in 13 games this season with the Maple Leafs.  He has also played for coach Bruce Boudreau when Boudreau coached the AHL's Manchester Monarchs and Hershey Bears.  He also coached him for several season with the Washington Capitals.

"Adding David Steckel gives us another big body and depth up the middle,” said GM Bob Murray. “He comes highly recommended from Bruce (Boudreau). Faceoffs have been something of a concern for us the last few seasons. Steckel is a tremendous faceoff man and penalty killer, something that will really help our club.”

Big is right.  Steckel is 6'6" tall and 215 pounds.  He should make a nice, intimidating presence in the face off circle.

Steckel was expected to join the Ducks on Friday evening in time for Saturday's game against the St. Louis Blues.  In order to make room for Steckel, St. Louis native, Patrick Maroon, was sent back to Norfolk.

With Nick Bonino out of the line up with a lower body injury, most of the face off responsibility has fallen to Ryan Getzlaf and Saku Koivu.  Bonino is not expected back for at least the next week.

"We needed somebody in that regard because you can’t play Getzy and Saku the whole night long, and you can see how important faceoffs are," said Boudreau. "Plus, he's a good penalty killer."

Steckel also looks to provide more veteran experience with an eye to making a run in the playoffs, something the Ducks missed last spring.  

The last time the Ducks headed into Dallas, things did not fare well for Anaheim.  It was one of the few games they have lost in regulation all season.  Their second visit of the year was more successful, although they needed to come from behind, again, to get the 2-1 shootout win.

"They are tough," said Ryan Getzlaf, who had the game winning goal in the shootout.  "This is a tough building.  They've got a good hockey team over there and we know that.  We came in and we got our two points and we'll move on."

Jonas Hiller was in net for the third game in a row and did not have to be nearly as superhuman as he did against Minnesota two nights prior.  However, he still had to be pretty darn good and luck and a crossbar were on his side.

Ray Whitney put Dallas on the board at 12:35 of the first period.  After missing 16 games with a foot injury, Whitney was in fine form and had a beautiful shot that went behind Hiller.

Andrew Cogliano continued his hot hand to tie up the game at 7:28.  It was the only goal to get past Kari Lehtonen during regulation.

From that point forward, the Ducks were operating with a lot of luck on their side.  Derek Roy thought he had the lead back for the Stars but the referee, mistakenly thinking that Hiller had the puck covered, blew the whistle early.  Hiller did not and the puck went in, but no goal. 

A few minutes later Dallas shot the puck and it hit the crossbar and out again.  Anaheim should have bought a lottery ticket, because everything was coming up golden for them.

Late in the third period the hockey gods were kind for a third time.  With the Stars on a power play, it appeared they got one past Hiller.   For a brief moment both the Stars and Ducks paused, clearly in agreement that it was a goal, but it was waived no goal and play continued.  After scratching their heads in bewilderment (both teams and fans), the replay clearly showed that the puck went off the crossbar, hit the post and exited the crease, never once passing the line. 

Regulation ended without any more close calls and overtime did not yield anything either.  Hiller was solid in the shootout, although Loui Eriksson came close.  Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.  Not in hockey shootouts. 

Bobby Ryan and Getzlaf were both successful against Lehtonen.  When Hiller stopped Whitney's shootout attempt, it was game over, two more points to the Ducks growing season total.

Anaheim is now undefeated in regulation in the past nine games.  They have not lost in regulations since February 25 against the Kings. 

"We've allowed one (regulation) loss in 16 games," said coach Bruce Boudreau. "No matter how you cut it, it's pretty good."

The "pretty good" Ducks now head to St. Louis on Saturday to see if they can keep their streak going.  They will continue on without Corey Perry, who will not be eligible to play again after his four game suspension until Friday, March 22 against Detroit.

In other notes:  Viktor Fasth did not back up Hiller, but should be back in the line up against St. Louis as Jeff Deslauriers was returned to his ECHL team.  Kyle Palmieri returned to the line up after missing five games with an upper body injury.  Nick Bonino missed his third game with a lower body injury.  

After the 2-1 defeat of the Minnesota Wild by the Anaheim Ducks, no one in the state of hockey is happy.  Except Zach Sikich, but more on him later.

The Wild were robbed.  Plain and simple.  They outworked, outplayed and outlasted the Ducks for the first two periods of the game.  Anaheim was outshot 22-7 after the first 40 minutes of play and things did not look like they would improve in the third period.

The only reason the Ducks were down by a single goal was because of Jonas Hiller, who was spectacular and he had to be. 

Hiller wasn't even supposed to start the game.  Viktor Fasth got the nod.  Then Fasth got injured in the morning skate.  Bad enough that he could not sit on the bench.  So the Ducks called up Jeff Deslauriers, but he could not get there in time for the game to start. 

Enter Sikich.   The 32 year old Minnesota native who runs a goaltender school got to add three minutes of NHL time to his resume.   Sikich was signed to an amateur try out contract which paid him $500 and threw in an official Ducks jersey with his name on the back. 

Sikich had been used as a practice goaltender last year by the Ducks, but to get this kind of opportunity after never having played higher than a few ECHL games was a highlight. 

Sikich's very, very brief NHL career came to an end when Deslauriers made it to the rink, albeit a little late.  The two goalies switched places during a review of Torrey Mitchell's almost goal at 2:27 of the first period. 

The puck never crossed the line, so no goal.  And for Sikich, that was the end for him as well.  

The Ducks spent a good portion of the first period in the penalty box, giving Minnesota three power plays, including 1:30 with a two man advantage.  Given enough opportunities, scoring will happen, and Devin Setoguchi finally put the Wild officially on the board at 18:00.

The second period was no less awful for Anaheim and they continued the march to the penalty box.

The most egregious was a major interference penalty on Corey Perry at 4:21.  Perry caught Jason Zucker's head on a late hit that caught Zucker unaware.  Zucker spent a long time down on the ice and Perry was given a quick exit from the game.

Perry faces a disciplinary hearing this morning in a telephone conference to determine if further punishment is to be doled out.

EDIT:  Perry was handed a four game suspension for the hit.

Despite all the adversity, Hiller remained strong in net and kept Anaheim in the game and the penalty killers did their job.  By the time the third period began, if the Ducks could steal a point, that would have been better than expected results. 

Never say never with these Duckies, though.  There is no quit in them and they continue to find ways to win.

Patrick Maroon tied up the game at 3:05 of the third with a one handed deflection behind Niklas Backstrom.  It was his second goal of the year. 

The game appeared destined for overtime until Luca Sbisa found a great time to get his first goal of the year at 16:56. 

The shocked Wild and their fans got to see not one but two points go right out the window as Anaheim held them off for the remaining three minutes of the game. 

"You gotta be honest with yourself," said Sbisa. "I don't think we played to the standard you need to play on a nightly basis. But it shows the character of this team to battle through it."

The Ducks can now get out of Minnesota, who are happy to see the team go, and take this crazy show on the road to Dallas in the second of a three game road trip.

Perhaps Anaheim might try the tactic of playing a full 60 minutes to avoid these come from behind nail biters?

In other notes:  Nick Bonino was placed on IR for a low body injury and Devante Smith-Pelly was sent back to Norfolk.   Sikich is still floating on cloud nine for his experience and new found media attention!

Anaheim continued their winning ways with a 4-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues.  They have 11 straight victories at home, a record for the team, and have not lost there this season since their home opener.

At the halfway point, the Ducks are solidly in second place in the NHL with an 18-3-3 record.  They are only six points behind Chicago and slowly creeping up on them as the Blackhawks got their second regulation loss.

How does this team keep getting it done?

“We’ve played in all different situations throughout the year," said captain Ryan Getzlaf. "We’ve played with leads, we’ve played from behind. We’ve won close games and other games. When you’re playing well, you try to stick with that confidence that you have the ability to do it. Stick with your system that works. And that’s what good teams do."

Anaheim is definitely a good team this season. 

The victory over an injury depleted St. Louis was another come from behind effort.   Ryan Reaves scored at 6:09 of the first period, the first time eight games that the Ducks have allowed the other team to score first.   It was also the first goal the Ducks had allowed, period, in the past three games.

Andrew Cogliano got a short handed goal at 8:24 of the middle frame.  It was his second chance, and the second attempt went in behind Jaroslav Halak.  The Ducks needed that boost after failing on a 5 on 3 attempt before going down a man themselves.

The Blues took the crowd out of it again when Patrik Berglund regained the lead for St. Louis at 1:41 of the third period with a power play goal.  Jonas Hiller was screened and could not even see the shot.

Fortunately, Bobby Ryan tied up the game once more at 3:11, giving his team and the crowd new life.  Francois Beauchemin's shot hit Getzlaf on the backside with Ryan picking up the rebound and finishing things off.  A painful assist, but the end result sure felt good.

Corey Perry gave the Ducks their first lead with a power play goal at 5:20 and added the insurance marker with the empty net goal at 19:20.  Perry did a brilliant fake out of St. Louis, pretending to pass the puck to Ryan.  After Alex Pietrangelo moved over to defend Ryan, Perry just popped the puck in the open lane and put it directly in the net. 

"It feels good," said Perry. "Everybody here knows what's going on and the role they're supposed to be playing. Everyone is adapting to it. We're staying positive when we get down in games, whether it's early or like tonight in the third period, we find a way to win. We don't deviate from our game plan. It has definitely helped us confidence-wise, especially when it starts from the goalie right on up."

The Ducks now take the show on the road for three games against Minnesota, Dallas and a repeat visit with St. Louis.

In other notes:  Nick Bonino was a late scratch in the game due to flu symptoms.

Anaheim hates going to Detroit.  Joe Louis has been very unkind to them over the years and the Ducks have a mere four wins in the building in 20 years.   Calgary can feel Anaheim's pain, because a visit to the Honda Center has yielded absolutely nothing in return for the past 16 games in a row.  The Flames last win in Anaheim?  January 19, 2004. 

The latest victory to add to the Ducks dominance was a 4-0 shutout on Friday night.  Viktor Fasth stopped 29 shots and the Ducks now have two shutout victories in a row - one with Fasth and one with Hiller.  Clearly, you won't go wrong with whomever you start on Sunday against St. Louis.

Calgary's loss was not for a lack of effort.  In fact, they were the far better team for the first half of the game.  Then the Ducks woke up.

Daniel Winnik scored just 1:15 into the first period, his first goal in 19 games.  But that was all the Ducks could muster behind Miikka Kiprusoff until the second period.

"We sure were outplayed in the first half of the game," said coach Bruce Boudreau. "Thank goodness for Viktor. Once we scored the second goal, we started to get our legs and started to do the right things, and I think they were frustrated. A win is a win.”

Bobby Ryan tweaked his ankle in the first period, catching an edge and going down awkwardly.  He went to the locker room but returned and scored at 13:38 of the second period to make it 2-0.  That was where the game turned.

Ryan Getzlaf, who signed an eight-year contract extension earlier in the day, got an assist on Ryan's goal, giving him his 500th career point.  Getzlaf later added his 10th goal of the year at 16:18 of the third period to put the final exclamation point on the game.

"I didn't even know until earlier," Getzlaf said about the milestone after the game.  "It's another step along the way, and just a small step in the grand scheme of things."

Sheldon Souray got the other goal in the middle period with a key assist from Brad Staubitz.  Staubitz got kicked in the face with Alex Tanguay's skate blade late in the first period.  He had only been back on the ice for a couple minutes before he earned his first point as a Duck.  It took a while to put 35 stitches in his face.

"It was a little scary," said Staubitz.  "I knew it was the blade that hit me. It hit me hard. Right away, I wasn't sure. It kind of stunned me and I wasn't sure how bad it would be.  They did a great job, stitched me up quick.  Got lucky, I think."

The Ducks hope their luck continues on home ice when they meet up with the St. Louis Blues on Sunday evening. 

In other notes:  Kyle Palmieri remained out with an upper body injury.  Bryan Allen missed his third in a row with flu like symptoms.