(Patrik Laine of the Winnipeg Jets celebrates after scoring a goal Sunday. Photo courtesy of Darcy Finley/NHLI via Getty Images.)
The hapless Anaheim Ducks increased their winless streak to 11 games Sunday by losing in their oh-so typical fashion. At this point, the defeats seem almost predictable. Wait, wait, let me guess. They lost in overtime, right? YES! They scored first, but the opponent came back to tie the game during regulation? YES! They retook the lead, but still managed to blow that as well? YES!
Nailed it!
That is right, ladies and gentlemen. For the third straight game, the Ducks blew a lead after scoring the game’s first goal. Yeah, probably most of us saw that coming. For the second straight game, they blew a lead twice. That takes a little more skill, but not less surprising. And for the umpteenth time, Anaheim got spanked in 3-on-3s during overtime, this latest spectacle by the Winnipeg Jets in front of an attendance of 15,321 at the Bell MTS Place in Winnipeg, MB.
Absolutely every Ducks fan fully expected to lose once the game entered OT. If Anaheim shocked anyone when it relinquished a goal in 3-on-3s, then that person has not paid attention to the Ducks during overtimes. The Ducks have absolutely stunk at 3-on-3s ever since that silliness was first invented, and this season is not different. In fact, Sunday marked the fourth time during the 11-game streak that the Ducks lost during 3-on-3s. Let that sink in, folks.
Yep, the Ducks have gone 0-7-4 since winning in Pittsburgh on Dec. 17. Four times during that drought they entered sudden-death overtime, and in all four the Ducks lost in 3-on-3s. But yeah, let’s keep using the same guys during every overtime. And why on earth has Anaheim scratched Pontus Åberg for the past three games? That guy is tied for second on the team in goals. How is he not in the lineup?
Bigger question: How does Head Coach Randy Carlyle still have a job? Right? Well, for that, the Ducks released the following statement on social media Sunday night following the latest loss:
Bob “Mediocre” Murray needs to be fired. He is as much of the problem as is Carlyle. Murray’s refusal to replace the coach transferred the ownership of Carlyle’s incompetence to the general manager. Furthermore, with Murray’s statement, the GM essentially announced that Carlyle’s feelings are more important than those of the team’s fan base.
I hope the Ducks’ owners are paying attention, because they should be smart enough to recognize that it is us fans that fill Honda Center, buy the Ducks apparel, and watch Prime Ticket on TV. We are the source of the revenue stream, and our feelings matter. #FireMurray
If the Ducks lose their next game, and Murray is still the GM, this hockey writer in his next article might just take the owners to task big league. Stay tuned !!
By the way, I am one of the thousands of fans that attended Honda Center during the streak, and I want both Carlyle and Murray replaced. I drove all the way to Anaheim from Los Angeles in traffic Wednesday to watch the Ducks lose to the Ottawa Senators, and as did the thousands of fans, I spent money on concessions. I put money into the pockets of the owners, front office, and coaching staff. My opinion matters.
At Wednesday’s game, the Ducks took an early 1-0 lead, but eventually lost during regulation. On Friday, the Ducks took a 3-0 lead, but lost during regulation. On Sunday, they jumped out to a 2-0 first-period lead on goals from Brian Gibbons and Rickard Rakell. This time I was not fooled. I expected the worse. Sure enough, with only 10 seconds remaining in the first period, the Jets made their first move, when Blake Wheeler scored. Then, only 2:24 into the second period, Patrik Laine tied the game, 2-2.
Remember Friday’s loss at home? In that embarrassment of a hockey game, after Anaheim built a 3-0 lead, the Pittsburgh Penguins returned from the grave to tie the score, 3-3. But then, the Ducks bounced right back and retook the lead, 4-3. Well, on Sunday, Anaheim performed a similar stunt, as Andrew Cogliano put the Ducks back on top, 3-2, when he fired a terrible angle shot that somehow slipped under a leg pad of Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck. That slim lead held up when the teams headed into the second intermission.
But, just as the game had gone south for the Ducks in the third period on Friday, that is pretty much what happened again on Sunday. Against Winnipeg, Anaheim coughed up the lead for the second time in the contest, as Ben Chiarot tied the score with less than six minutes remaining in regulation.
So the teams headed to OT, and the only question was when would the Jets score? The answer turned out to be that Winnipeg would need almost the entire five minutes. Finally, with only 11 seconds left in the 3-on-3s competition, Bryan Little won the game for the Jets.
Yep. The Ducks gave up goals with only 10 seconds remaining in the first period, six minutes left in regulation, and 11 seconds to go in OT. Unbelievable. Anaheim cannot run out a clock to save its life.
After the game, Cogliano tried to put a positive spin on the latest disappointing loss.
“It’s a good start for us,” Cogliano said, referring to earning a standings point to begin the Ducks’ five-game road trip. “I thought we could’ve, should’ve won the game probably, but a point on this road trip is a good start, and now we’ll carry that for Tuesday [at Detroit against the Red Wings].”
With the standings point, the race for the wild card spots in the Western Conference looks like this:
As we see, the Ducks sit outside of the playoff spots. Worse, Anaheim has four teams chasing it. Yes, even the lowly St. Louis Blues are within striking distance because they have played three less games than have the Ducks, only trail by five points, and own the tiebreaker with more ROWs.
Here’s hoping the Ducks turn their season around immediately, start a winning streak, and prevent me from taking the owners to task. Until then, Let’s Go Ducks !! #FireMurray
Stay with us at Calisportsnews.com as we will keep you up-to-date on all things Anaheim Ducks and the rest of the SoCal sports teams! All Cali, All the time
The post Ducks Blow Another Lead, Winless Streak Reaches 11 appeared first on CaliSports News.