Something's wrong with the Anaheim Ducks.
Saturday night in front of an announced 19,034 fans, the Wild dominated virtually every moment against an allegedly desperate opponent. A 30-15 shot advantage is evidence of that.
Yet remarkably, the Ducks were only down a goal halfway through when they began taking careless penalty after needless penalty after reckless penalty.
They took five in a row before the Wild took its first. Finally, Thomas Vanek provided the Wild a crucial two-goal lead, the Wild quickly struck a third time and the sputtering Ducks left town with a lackluster 3-0 defeat.
"It's one of those games where we played well, we didn't give up much, yet it's 1-0," Vanek said. "A lot of times those games can go the other way, so I think that second goal was huge."
That's now six losses in seven games for the preseason Stanley Cup-favorite darlings. The sport is fickle, so things can change with one big goal or one big win. But rumors are circulating that coach Bruce Boudreau is in trouble, and the Ducks have scored a startling six goals — none by Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler. They have been shut out four times, their total for 82 games last season.
The Ducks demonstrated their frustration throughout the second period when tempers boiled over. Getzlaf, their captain, took two penalties, including an undisciplined one on Ryan Carter. But the game turned when Patrick Maroon spent an entire TV timeout following Carter around like a shadow.
The officials got in between before the faceoff. After the faceoff, Maroon still wanted to fight Carter. With the Wild up 1-0, Carter smartly didn't oblige. Instead, Maroon ran around the entire shift, and with the eyes of the refs on him he hauled down Chris Porter.