My Boys Have Arrived!

Oh.my.gosh. Finally! The Ducks have arrived and decided to come out and play! After dropping the first two games in an untypical manner, the boys regrouped and pieced together an attack that earned them three goals in the opening period of their 4-2 win over Dallas. They tuned out all the noise from the outside, murmuring about them being dead in the water and how disappointing it would be if they were to become yet another defending Cup Champion statistic being outed in the first round.

By no means are the Ducks in the clear yet, however, as they still trail the Stars 1-2 in the series. That being said, it seems they've climbed their way out of the darkness of their backsides and got back to the trademark physical Ducks hockey I've been waiting to see. Chris Pronger, no longer content to be invisible on the ice, took an early penalty but came back to get an assist on the opening Todd Marchant goal. Before the end of the period, Pronger would get a goal when he pinched down low and tapped in a beauty of a pass from Todd Bertuzzi. The puck slipped between both Ryan Carter and Marty Turco before finding Prongs' stick and sailing across the line for the Ducks' third goal.

Ryan Getzlaf got on the board with an unassisted goal when Dallas turned the puck over and Getzy took off on a breakaway and beat Turco fair and square.

The line-up was shaken up for Game 3 because Rob Niedermayer is out with "concussion-like symptoms" and Bobby Ryan was a healthy scratch. Robby's replacement on the checking line was Todd Marchant, while Brad May got bumped to the first line to add a bit of beef to the scoring line. Meanwhile, the fourth line experienced some adjusting as Brian Sutherby was re-inserted into the lineup as a left wing, Doug Weight took over in the circle, and George Parros made his 2008 playoff debut.

A few choice hits and the boys were back in form, forcing Dallas to sit back on their heels and endure the boos from the home crowd at the end of the first period.

The Stars got their offense going in the third period when Brenden Morrow scored twice on the power play.

Obviously, the Stars will look to build on any momentum they had going in the third while the Ducks will strive to come out hard as they did on Tuesday. Except both teams to bring their A-game as Dallas doesn't want to give Anaheim a chance to tie up the series, and Anaheim isn't willing to go quietly into golf season.

Come Thursday, it appears that Corey Perry may be ready to wreak some havoc in Turco's crease. Here's hoping...

goal by Finny at 9:27 PM