Green Machine Musings- Game 4 Recap and Preview of Tonight's Tilt

If this isn't the best hockey fight picture ever, I'd sure like to see what is.

            Game 4 of the best-of-seven series between the Dallas Stars and Anaheim Ducks was full of storylines even before the game began.  Upon taking the ice for warmups, the Ducks announced that captain Ryan Getzlaf would not play due to an undisclosed upper-body injury that required treatment back in California.  This meant that, of the three players on the Ducks top line that faced the Stars in Game 1, only Corey Perry would be available as Matt Beleskey remained out with an injury as well.  Surely, Lindy Ruff took the initiative to roll his lines more evenly against an Anaheim team that was sure to do the same.  For the first third of the game, however, Dallas' run of forcing the Ducks to play their game looked to have come to an end.

 

            Initially, the Stars appeared to have the Ducks on their heels yet again as they came out fast and physical.  Two monstrous hits, including one by Vernon Fiddler that temporarily knocked Anaheim defenseman Hampus Lindholm out of the game, set the tone for the Stars in the early going.  However, the Ducks quickly grabbed momentum when Bryan Allen let a slap shot fly that beat a screened Kari Lehtonen to his glove side.  It was Allen's first career playoff goal and the first time in three games that the Ducks had got on the board first.  Dallas' defensive woes continued as a brutal turnover by Sergei Gonchar behind his own net resulted in a Mathieu Perreault shot deflecting off Patrick Maroon, off Lehtonen's helmet, and into the net for a 2-0 advantage.  With the life sucked out of the home crowd, the men in green would have to rely on their veterans and top line players to stay focused and find a way to put some life back into the building.

 

 

 

             The second period could not have started any better for the Green Machine.  Less than 30 seconds into the frame, Jamie Benn won a faceoff just outside the Anaheim blue line by going forward with the puck.  After just a few strides, he let a wrist shot go that was perfectly placed in the top corner on Frederik Andersen's stick side to cut the lead in half.  The crowd was immediately back in the game and the Stars fed off that positive energy, generating a plethora of quality chances shortly thereafter.  With just under 14:00 left in the period, Shawn Horcoff (above) brought the puck across the Ducks' blue line on an odd man rush before finding Vernon Fiddler at the right circle.  Fiddler skated in on Andersen from a tough angle, but still beat the young Dane to the near post as the puck somehow found its way through the netminder's armpit.  The crowd went absolutely bananas and the Stars looked primed to jump out in front.  In all, they outshot the Ducks 16-3 in the second, but were unable to puncture Andersen any more in the period.  A rather unfortunate development took place on the side for the Stars as defenseman Patrik Nemeth left the game early in the period with an undisclosed upper-body injury, forcing Lindy Ruff to roll five defensemen for the remainder of the game.

 

               The third period began with the Stars playing very fast but not generating much in terms of shots on goal.  That all changed when Cody Eakin raced in on goal and rang one off the far post a few minutes into the period.  It seemed like only a matter of time before Andersen let another one go by.  At the 6:30 mark, Eakin decided that he was destined to score.  The Ginger Ninja took an outlet feed from Antoine Roussel just inside the red line and escaped the reach of Devante Smith-Pelley at the blue line. Skating in on a two-on-one, Eakin decided to continue in on goal and beat Andersen to the far post again, this time finding the twine for a 3-2 lead.  Just over a minute later, the Stars brought it in again and Vernon Fiddler dished a lethal saucer pass across the slot to Alex Goligoski, who beat Andersen low to the stick side for a 4-2 advantage. 

 

               Having allowed two goals on two shots in the frame, Andersen was pulled by coach Bruce Boudreau in favor of the veteran Jonas Hiller.  Hiller faced only one or two real shots in his time on the ice, but the Stars took more than a few shots in the form of violence in their end as the clock wound down.  Boudreau's decision to send out Mark Fistric as his sixth "attacker" in a vain attempt to tie the game was interpreted by many Stars fans as a deliberate attempt to gain momentum moving forward by shoving the Dallas players around.  For example, Ryan Garbutt was knocked into Kari Lehtonen with just a few seconds to go, a violation that went uncalled, and the aforementioned Smith-Pelley stared down Kari Lehtonen after the final horn sounded.  It was an all-around ugly situation and a foreboding omen of things to come in this series.  Regardless, the Stars have tied this series up as it shifts back to California.  One can also safely assume that Boudreau's attempt to intimidate us didn't work.

 

 

 

              Tonight, we are going to learn a lot about these two clubs.  The Stars have nearly all the momentum in this series and appear to have a slight edge in the war of attrition that is this series.  That is, the Ducks are starting to pick up injuries while the Stars are getting healthier.  Here are a few brief synopses of the major storylines heading into tonight's game.

 

• For the Stars, the blue line could either be severely shorthanded or receive a tremendous boost as Brenden Dillon (lower body) and Patrik Nemeth (upper body) are both listed as questionable for tonight.  Beat writer Mike Heika reported that both were at morning skate and that both should participate in warm-ups tonight prior to the contest.  If both play, it seems that Kevin Connauton will be the scratch.

• Erik Cole stayed on the ice after morning skate, an indication that he should be a healthy scratch for the third consecutive game.  Heika said in a live chat earlier this week that the versatility of Chris Mueller is the reason that he has been favored over Cole in these games.

• For the Ducks, Frederik Andersen was the first goalie off the ice and appears to be the starter yet again for Anaheim.  There was some speculation that Boudreau might turn to the veteran Jonas Hiller full-time after bringing him in in the waning moments of Game 4

• Teemu Selanne told reporters that he will be back in the lineup after being healthy scratched in Game 3.  His replacement, Emerson Etem, said that he will remain in the lineup regardless.

• Matt Beleskey will not play in Game 5 and hopes to be ready for Game 6 on Sunday in Dallas.

• Captain Ryan Getzlaf skated this afternoon and apparently had few limitations, suggesting that he will be back in beside Corey Perry tonight.  He remains, officially, a game-time decision with an undisclosed upper-body injury.

•  Anaheim's young defenseman Luca Sbisa told reporters that he will be in for Mark Fistric in the place of the injured Stephane Robidas.

One last note: entering tonight: home teams in the Western Conference are 15-1 in this postseason.  The only win went to the San Jose Sharks in Game 3 of their series versus Los Angeles.  Needless to say, the Stars are going to have to buck that trend to win this series and do it in a very hostile environment.