Stars-Ducks: Anaheim Mocked by 8-Bit Pooch

Never has a game of Duck Hunt seemed like so much fun!  Well at least for fans of the Dallas Stars it is.

Dallas fans have been pulling their NES Zappers out of their attics, and picking off duck after duck, and just waiting to see the little dog going "TEE HEE HEE!"  In all truthfulness, it most likely could be done blindfolded with the way Anaheim is playing.

The thought that Dallas would walk into Anaheim, a place notorious for its loud fans, and awful ice, and completely decimate the defending Stanley Cup Champions in both of the meetings was, pretty much, non-existent.

Seriously, though.  Who would have put that as a possibility?

Coming into this series, everyone expected the Ducks to be the playoff team that we've come to see year after year.  Think about it, since the 2002-03 season, the Ducks have only missed the playoffs once.  Of the seasons they did make it, only one of those times they were not in the Stanley Cup Finals.  And that third season, they lost in the Conference Finals against Edmonton. 

The biggest stat out there (in my personal opinion), is that the Ducks are 12-4 combined for those three seasons, in the first round.

So what's with this year?  The Ducks have already been dealt half as many losses in this round, as they have had in the past 3 playoff seasons, in the same round.

This brings up another question.  Will the Ducks mimic the 2005-06 Carolina Hurricanes, who lost the first two games of the first round to Montreal, only to sweep the next four?

Highly doubtful!

In the series against Montreal, Carolina was easily the better team.  They went out and handed the games to Montreal, and then decided to play.  Anaheim is not in that boat.

Anaheim and Dallas are about as evenly matched as you can be.  But sadly the Ducks haven't even resembled a playoff team this season yet.

Dallas, while being physically assaulted, has dished out assaults of their own.  They have made very few mistakes, and capitalized on many of Anaheim's.  Dallas has owned the Power Play, and subsequently the scoreboard, while Anaheim has struggled to get A goal.

With the series now heading to Dallas, many analysts have been mentioning the word found to be one cursed in playoff superstition, "sweep."

While the possibility is there, it is unlikely.  Very rarely do you see a full-blown sweep in a playoff series.  And if there is one series out there with the best chances, it has to be Detroit-Nashville.

Nevertheless, it is conceivable that Dallas could walk into their barn, and win two more games, and prepare for the second round, but that mentality is not in the Dallas locker room.  Not with how their playoff luck has been in recent years.

The keys for the Ducks are simple.  They will have to somehow break the Stars defense down, and completely shut the offensive dominance of Dallas down.

For the Stars, Brad Richards and Mike Ribeiro need to continue to be the dangers in the offensive front, and most importantly, Marty Turco needs to remain sturdy between the pipes.  Those are the factors that got Dallas to the playoffs, and got them a two game lead, now they can't let up.

Game Three is tomorrow (Tuesday) night at the American Airlines Center, in Dallas.  Anaheim is in a, virtual, and cliché, must-win situation, and the Stars are playing like champions.  Unless Anaheim steps up to the plate, and somehow can break the Stars confidence and momentum, it will inevitably be more of the same.

If game three mimics games one and two, get those NES Zappers out kids, Anaheim will continue to be "sitting Ducks."