Best oNHL94 Game Recaps
Here are some of my favourite game recaps I wrote.
Recaps are displayed in the order the games were played (oldest first).
MTL vs ANH, 6-0 MTL
http://65.36.133.56/nhl94/recap.aspx?gameid=429
Montreal came out flying, scoring 3 goals in the first 1:13 on a shakey Giguere, and scoring 2 more in the last minute of the period to build an early 5-0 lead. They probably would have scored 3 or 4 more had MTL's Souray not gotten a penalty.
Montreal added another 11 seconds into the second period on Bryzgalov, who came in for the pulled Giguere, to further demoralize a reeling Anaheim team. Giguere returned to the ice and played solidly the rest of the game.
The ducks were looking stronger in the 3rd, but with 1:23 remaining, put 3 men in the penalty box simultaneously. Federov had two great shorthanded chances, but Theodore continued to stand tall, waiting for Federov to make the first move and refusing to go down on the deke.
6 different players scored for the Habs, and the team passed at 74%. Now that's total domination.
After the game, Giguere complained that someone had slipped a laxative into his water bottle, so he couldn't concentrate until after he had been pulled and given the chance to get it "out of his system." Said Anaheim coach smozoma, "No wonder he played like crap."
3 Stars:
Theodore, Koivu, Dandenault (MTL)
Phx @ Anh, 5-0 Anaheim
http://65.36.133.56/nhl94/recap.aspx?gameid=123
Anaheim had goals from R. Niedermayer and J. Lupul in the first period of this tough-hitting game.
PHX's David Tanabe layed out Sergei Federov 28 seconds into the 2nd period, incurring a 4-minute penalty that ruined any chance of PHX getting back in the game. Anaheim scored 3 more goals in the second period, including 2 by Ryan Getzlaf, who had been scoreless in his past 4 games. R Niedermayer also scored his 2nd goal of the night.
Phoenix out-hit the spindly Anaheim team 37-17. Some Anaheim players spent more time on the bench -- the Phoenix bench -- than on the actual ice.
Anaheim star Sergei Federov was unavailable for comment after the game. He was unconscious.
Extra game notes: Selanne broke the glass with the weakest shot EVER.
Anh @ Phx, 5-2 Anaheim
http://65.36.133.56/nhl94/recap.aspx?gameid=318
Anaheim ended a scoring drought (one that saw them score just 5 goals in their past 4 games), not so much through skill as through an accumulation of bad luck that finally repolarized into good luck.
J Lupul opened the scoring for ANH 1:07 in. The next two ANH goals were scored on plays where PHX goaltender Curtis Joseph saw fit to leave half the Anaheim team between himself and the net. Along with the puck. Ryan Getzlaf put the Ducks up 4-0 on a nice deke to close out the 2nd period.
Shots after the 2nd period were 16-7 in favour of ANH, but the Coyotes decided to make a game of it in the 3rd period.
ANH's Keith Carney was called for hooking early in the 3rd, and PHX's powerplay dominated completely for 24 seconds before David Tanabe hit Geoff Sanderson with a great one-timer pass. Tanabe had the choice of several wide open PHX players standing in front of Giguere while the rest of the ANH team decided to have a tea party over in the corner, it seemed.
Comrie added another for PHX 45 seconds later on a breakaway, undetered by an ANH defender who had literally climbed atop him, riding piggy-back, in an effort to bring him down.
PHX pulled their goalie after an ANH icing call with 30 seconds remaining, but Giguere cleared the puck to Federov, who hit a streaking Lupul with a pass to set him up to net his 2nd goal of the game on the only ANH shot of the 3rd period. PHX had 7 shots in the 3rd.
With the win, ANH evened the season series between the teams 2-2 and pulled within 3 points of PHX for the division lead.
In past games between the two teams, hitting had been a huge factor, PHX outhitting ANH by an astounding 108-51 margin in 3 matches. Anaheim appeared to have beefed up and managed to only get out-hit 19-17 this game.
3 Stars:
Federov, McDonald (ANH), Lupul