NHL Anaheim Ducks

Complete Team Effort Pushes Anaheim Ducks to the Forefront of the NHL

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By @jessiebear23

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

With the better half of the NHL season still ahead, calling a successful playoff run or even worse, a Stanley Cup front-runner, this side of December is nothing short of a potentially bad omen. Any hockey fan could read a riot act of what changes this game can bring in a short five months, or even more so, a matter of seconds.

Such was the scene Wednesday night in Anaheim, California, as one of the more heated rivalries in today’s NHL fell center stage for the first time at Honda Center since their meeting in the 2014 playoffs. For the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings, not only was last night’s tilt a game of inches and seconds, it quickly became a game of depth and stamina.

While the headlines going into the game were mostly stories of Ducks’ top-liner and sharp-shooter Corey Perry still out sick, not many would have suspected the headline coming out of Anaheim’s exhilarating overtime win would include none other than the team’s third goalie, 34-year-old Jason LaBarbera.

LaBarbera was tasked with holding down the net while Anaheim climbed out of three separate two-goal deficits, five minutes of overtime and a three-round shootout against the likes of Marian Gaborik and Jeff Carter. Although the sheer talent in LaBarbera’s performance can’t be overlooked, perhaps the more important takeaway from Wednesday was a scene in which the Ducks not only found a way to win with key players out, but to thrive.

While Perry’s shot has certainly been missing this past week, Anaheim gave the Kings their best team performance to date. Despite the numbers on the scoreboard through most of the night, the Ducks were pressing from the first minutes after puck drop, outshooting the visiting Kings in both regulation and overtime.

Yes, the season is still young.  But a team is only as good as its weakest line, and Anaheim didn’t have a single weak line to roll for the entirety of the game. Even more so, key plays executed by the third and fourth lines created the kind of offense to break down Kings goalie Jonathan Quick. As Los Angeles coach Daryl Sutter truthfully, and almost painfully, stated after the game, Anaheim, in this moment, is simply the better team — team being the key word.

So while April is still far away, early signs of the Ducks filling those holes that so brutally ousted them from the playoffs last year are much-needed insurance.

Victory is always sweet in Anaheim, but last night’s was served with a cold side of redemption. And for perhaps the first time since last May, Ducks fans slept soundly with the world finally seeing a bit of what they have been watching for seasons: the Anaheim Ducks are going somewhere, and fast.

Jessica Bradley is an Anaheim Ducks writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow her on Twitter @jessiebear23 or add her to your network on Google.

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