It all came down to this

But let me start the tale from the beginning. First you preheat the oven… oh wait that’s a recipe … hmm maybe it is a rather auspicious start to this entry.

We finally got to see a matchup between Jiggy and Bryz! It was worth the price of admission. The ReNiedermayer’d Ducks weren’t as hard to beat as I thought would be the case. Nieds is still a bit rusty and actually made a few huffs.

The Ducks have made a living (and a religion) out of intimidation and physically manhandling (legal and dirty) the opposition. Tonight it didn’t work. Joel Perrault refused to be scared and spent a whole lotta of the game in Jiggy’s kitchen huntin for cookies while Gappy , I meant Pronger smacked him around. Prongs played nasty all night, kickin TQ in the shin pads and cross checks to the chests of various players after the whistle. All to no avail. How can you be afraid of a guy that looks like a young Andy Griffiths around the mouth? Oh yeah easy if he’s towering above you by 1/2 a foot… but not JoelP (kid might have a death wish, as much as he messed w/ Gappy).

The scoring went like this:

The Perry/Getzlaf duo gets loose in the first 3 minutes. 1 - 0 Ducks. We battle the rest of the period trying to answer it. The Ducks make us look like toddlers trying to get to the stairs around mom’s legs. We really battle hard but just can’t catch a break. Not even on the single PP that we get. There are chances, fairly decent chances, hell, we outshot them 14 - 9. But we get denied. The big highlight was Dwin’s hit on Huskins, Winnie knocks the stuffin outta that Duck. And who can believe the play where the puck went off of York and bounced off the inside of the post *rode the line all the way across the net* and Bryz! scooped it out and back into play! Just wow! Our goalie has mad skillz (and is a lucky summaB too).

So we come out in the second and within 2 minutes the big PM sets up his Captain for one of the prettiest wristers ever released by the Donor (this was one of those whole body wristers you gotta see to appreciate). 1 - 1 game. Unfortunately the Quacks would answer it almost immediately from a really ugly turnover by Wellie to Kunitz. Weight tipped in on the ensuing shot by Kunitz. *the puck was hoppin and caught air over our crappy ice and right over Bryz! * 2 - 1 Ducks. sighhhh (I have heard a silly rumor… that fans complained so much about the temperature n the arena that the place is warmer than is good for the ice surface. Thus helping to exacerbate the crapitude of our playing surface……. ummmm bring one of the multitudenous fleece blankies they have given you oh nancy fanbase and shut yer pie hole. Good ice = better play and less chance of player injury and is more important than your chillblanes) I digress.

As much as I love to complain about the refs I gotta really raise my bitching to a new level for this period. McGeough was here… (do I REALLY need to say any more than that?) and we get back to back calls. One call so obscure that even the most knowledgable fan was left scratching their heads. Rule 68 somehow was ressurrected from the dead. (no TV coverage so I can’t replay this one multiple times until I can tell you what exactly precipitated this one) but after Bally’s interference penalty was up, young JoelP was in the box for a bench minor titled illegal substitution (I thought I had mistakenly twightlight zoned into a Cardinal’’s game). Luckily no feathered fiends are able to break our intrepid Pkers. Then to make up for the heinous rule 68 debacle, the Birds get to penalties back to back… 2 wrongs do NOT make a right but our fierce blueline maniacs go ballistic as Ballard feeds Morris left to right and DMo spies the local wild life (Rhino) lurking and sends him the sweetest cross ice pass and of course the Rhino gets Jiggy with it. 2 - 2 game on the PP! no less.

There are more penalties and shenanigans through the next 26+ minutes but nothing phases the 2 netminders. It is a battle of wills at this point. Who will blink first? Well… neither and we headed to OT. We outshoot them again in the 3rd (10 - 5) but Jiggy makes some hella fine saves.

OT is a really safety first kind of affair. Both teams taking only the meagerest of shooting chances 2 sogs for them and 2 for us. Neither goalie gives an inch. We are going to the shootout.

SO brings its own risks but the rewards so far have fallen on our side of the fence and tonight was no exception.

Todd Bertuzzi forced wide no dice as the Bryz! wips him with the stick sweep.

Peter ’shootout money’ Mueller shows Jiggy a new dance step, low, stick side shuffle. Open hole , insert puck!

Ryan Getzlaf loses the puck on his fake, kicks it up and Bryz! denies the weak effort.

Radim ‘insert multiple I’m not worthys here’ Vrbata switches from his patented forehand , backhand, high shot in favor of a glove high shot and Jiggy denies him.

Brandon Bochenski (a player Bryz! has not faced before) game breaker here - goes straight in and Bryz! just flicks his measly try away.

We get some extra points, celebrate tastefully, digest the Ducks and spit out the pinfeathers as we leave the ice to prepare for the road. The atmosphere was simply ELECTRIC most of the night… 16,000 plus in attendance, not bad Phoenix, let’s keep up the support.

The radio guest was Mathias Tjarnqvist. TQ has a funny, modest charm to him. For bein such a ferocious beast on the PK and as much shut down work as he gets, that is one shy lil Swede. At one point he bleeps himself instead of using the F bomb and then in rebuttal to Sjo’s NY resolution for him lets loose with a lil cussin. Too damn funny (see Mattie, we all let them slip past us some times)

~photos by BTinAZ~ another fine job by our Andie

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9302501@N02/sets/72157603656915071/

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