Orange County Register

 10 Comments

• czhokej says:

  November 5, 2009 at 10:32 pm

  It is a good game when we win. It is a good game when Teemu scores 2. It’s a good game when our goalie gets a shutout. Hiller was Khiller again tonight, he was himself. PK was excellent.
  Finally, Randy told his players to go to the net, and to spend more time around the crease. The difference was clearly visible, and chances kept coming. Getz started skating better, positioning has improved, goal from the checking line was a nice bonus.
  Not to be too positive, to allow 40 shots was too much. Still to many turnovers.
  • backcheck says:

    November 5, 2009 at 10:34 pm

    Still want to fire Coach Carlyle, cz?
    • czhokej says:

      November 5, 2009 at 11:06 pm

      backcheck, I still do not like him, even though we played better. It took him 14 games to correct some obvious problems. I believe that Hiller won the game for us.
      Nashville is the last team in the NHL in scoring, the Preds have almost the worst PP, below the average PK, etc. Win is a win, but I still expect more from our coach. But I agree now with you, give him a chance. The road trip will show us more. It’s not going to be easy.
    • duckerooski says:

      November 6, 2009 at 7:41 am

      I do, the Finns can run and gun as witnessed by their 4 on 4 goal. But 5 on 5, RC can only think of slowing things down grinding along the boards. He can’t even play one fast line…
      I think RC is P.O.d that he can’t slow down 4 on 4 enough!
      BC, how do you think Randy will let the Finns play on Saturday? Will he adapt some?
      • backcheck says:

        November 6, 2009 at 10:19 am

        lol, duckerooski. I’ve always thought Brian Burke’s blind spot is that he doesn’t appreciate speed. Not sure if that’s true of Coach Carlyle or not.

        In a couple key areas Coach has already adapted. Saku & Teemu execute give & go’s, attack the opposition blue line with speed and when head manning the puck we often lead the head man or short dump rather than automatically going for the deep dump. The Top Line is doing this too, especially when passing to Ryan.

        IMHO, the seeming slow start by the 2nd line, keep in mind Teemu has been on pace for a 40 goal season almost from the get go, has had more to do with Koivu pressing and trying to force plays. Saku has also been a tad snake bit. What happens when you’re trying to force it.

        Some adapting we could make is to work Lupul in more than we are doing. It’s tough because he’s slow. Is it just me or do you duckerooski find yourself looking for Loops on many plays, like where is he? Well he’s slow, trailing on the play is where we find him.

        We might encourage Lupul to cheat a bit forward in our own zone. That will require Teemu to play stellar defense like he did last night. We can achieve this by going 1-2-2 set in our zone. Loops would be responsible for taking away the East/West passing lane at the blue line with Saku & Teemu taking the mid-zone and supporting our D down low.

        On offense Lupul would be 3rd man high and leave the cycle to Koivu/Selanne most often. I see Joffrey as kind of a poor man’s Bret Hull. He’s not a 70 goal scorer but he’s got a great shot and he can find the holes in the opposing zone.

        Those are a couple idears we might try. Thanks for asking. Chomp,Chomp.
• backcheck says:

  November 5, 2009 at 10:48 pm

  Our Ducks whipped a 12th place team that is expected to be 12th in April and didn’t have its franchise player Shea Weber.

  Might have been 50-60 shots if not for Whitney, Boynton & Eminger sacrificing their bodies and getting in front of rubber. I’m okay with giving up shots so long as we’re not giving up genuine scoring chances.

  What impressed me most is how we cleared the rebounds. Preds were hangin’ around the net all night but Getzlaf, Koivu & Marchant along with our D didn’t give up many second shots.

  Our Ducks played a great positional game. We kept the Preds on the outside for 60 minutes.

  Overall it looks like things are starting to come together. Boynton is finally skating alongside Cap. Something I posted about when we signed him. Koivu is looking relaxed and not trying to force things. Getzlaf dominated slot to slot whenever he was on the ice.

  Most important there’s real evidence Coach Carlyle is adapting. We boxed out tonight. We clogged the passing lanes with bodies and sticks. Our play when we didn’t have the puck was the best its been this season.

  Then again, we whipped a 12th place team.
• czhokej says:

  November 5, 2009 at 11:19 pm

  I am always more critical and judgmental than others. We gave up way too many scoring chances against Hiller. We are still the last in our division, 14th in the West and 26th in the whole league.
  However, I was glad to see some improvements.
• Paul says:

  November 5, 2009 at 11:19 pm

  Not just Shea Weber out. They were also missing J.P. Dumont…as well as just having Jason Arnott return after being on I.R. I’m glad we won….but this was not a real test for our team. Don’t get me wrong….the Finns are finally “feeling” where each other will be. Which is great….but I feel this is more of keeping the lines together until chemistry gels, which is not really something Randy Carlyle, aka: Mr. Juggles, is known for. Saturday should provide some good fireworks as Wiz will be back in to play with Doan some more.Heehee
• Stephen says:

  November 6, 2009 at 1:53 am

  Any victory that ends in 4-0 is nothing but great news for a team searching for confidence. It doesn’t matter who is in and who is out due to injuries. This year every team has them. Hiller made a lot of great saves and did an excellent job with positioning. I was very impressed with our defensive minds tonight. The team played a overall great game.
• bb says:

  November 6, 2009 at 10:44 am

  I have to agree with Paul.

  And, yes a win is a win- but, I want to see what happens tomorrow night. I’m hoping we have far fewer penalties and take more of the pressure off our goal tender.