Ducks Win on Parros' Game Winning Goal

The Anaheim Ducks wrapped up another length early-season Road Trip last night in Dallas, against the division rival Stars. Outside of an early power-play goal by Dallas, the Ducks were in command from the start of the second period on. Against a very good Dallas team, the Ducks played their best game of the season, as did Bobby Ryan, who scored twice, doubling his goal total on the season.

The best moment of the night, however, was a breakaway goal by tough-guy George Parros. He blocked a pass and was able to turn that into a breakaway, where he scored off the goalie, Kari Lehtonen, when he tried to stack the pads.

With that win, the Ducks move into second place in the Pacific division, and are just a point out of a playoff spot. Without a doubt, the Ducks are on the rise after a rocky 0-3 start. They still have a losing record at 4-5-1, but with a nice home-stand coming up against more division rivals, the Ducks seem primed to find themselves back into the playoff picture, after looking like the worst team in Hockey after the first week of games.

It seems like Bobby Ryan is going to gel better with Koivu and Selanne on the second line, and it seems like Corey Perry and Getzlaf are going to have more room to do what they do without Ryan in the way. Plus, if guys like Parros can come up big on the 3rd and 4th lines, it will make everyone's job easier.

Cam Fowler: What Brandon Wood Should Have Been.

Last Night, the 18-year-old, 2010 First-Round Draft-Pick, Cam Fowler scored his first NHL goal. Add that to 2 asssists he had previously, and he has already had a pretty productive first six games in his career. Keep in mind that he is a defensemen, so points aren't really his specialty. However, Cam is quite the special player. Going into last nights game, he was averaging 22 minutes a game (a great number for any defensemen, let alone one who cant drink yet).

However, not too long after his second period goal, Fowler was slammed into the boards by way of a cheap shot from veteran Shane Doan. It wasn't Doan's only cheap shot of the night that went unpunished. He also hit forward Dan Sexton in the back of the head with an elbow as the refs were looking the other way. Thankfully, he was suspended three games by the league for his actions last night. In other good news, it was reported that Fowler simply had a broken nose, and that he is probable for Wednesdays game in Columbus.

In the last two seasons, the Ducks had lost Chris Pronger to free agency, and Scott Neidermeyer to retirement. Their blue-line was tapped, and when a few became injured in the pre-season this year, the Ducks even panicked and signed Andreas Lilja from europe. However, with a guy like Fowler, should his career continue to progress the way it has these first six games, this is someone you need to build around. Once Selanne and Koivu retire, and guys like Perry leave for more money in free agency, you will want to have a young nucleus who has plenty of NHL experience. They already have a proven young goal-scorer in Bobby Ryan, now it seems like they have a blue-liner of the future in Cam Fowler.

At Least We Aren't The Ducks...

The Angels could have it worse. They could have played 2010 like the 2010-11 Ducks.

Through three games, the Ducks have been outscored 13-2. 4-0 loss to the Red Wings, 4-1 loss to the Predators, and a 5-1 loss today against the Blues in St. Louis.

The defense is horrendous (outside of the surprising play of 18-year-old rookie, Cam Fowler), the "scoring line" of Getzlaf, Perry and Ryan has zero points, and while Jonas Hiller is still one of the best goaltenders in the NHL, there is only so much he can do when no one else on his team can play decent hockey.

They have had their moments. There were times in Nashville against the Predators that it looked like they could jump out to an early lead, or even win the game. But 3 2nd period goals surrendered and a number of hit goal-posts ended all hope of a victory.

I know its impossible to write off this season with 79 games still left to play, but if the Ducks find themselves 5 or more games into the season without a point (much less a win), its going to be very hard for them to recover.

Things I'd Rather Watch...

The Angels lost to Cleveland, the joke of all sports-towns, AGAIN last night, and to be honest, things dont look good going into tonight. Weaver is on the hill tonight, but that has spelled trouble for the Angels in the last two months, getting something like 5 runs in Weavers last 12 starts (I need a stat-checker).

Regardless of the Win or Loss, the Angels have been tough to watch lately. The Offense looks comatose, and the Bullpen seems to think they need to serve up batting practice.

So, lets go through my list of hilarious things I'd rather watch than Angels Baseball right now.

1. The WNBA Finals. At least some of those girls have talent.
2. Keeping Up with the Kardashians. Not only is Khloe married to one of the reigning NBA Champions, but she is a former WWF Women's Champion!
3. Pre-Season Hockey. No Good Reason for this, and its a little sad.
4. Dodgers Baseball. Haha, no, just kidding.

On the bright side, the season is almost mercifully over.

Rangers Magic Number (To Eliminate the Angels): 8
Carl Crawford Countdown: 88