[crash]

...well, that was ugly.

Ducks 4, Stars 2 and it wasn't as close as the score. Just about every Star had the yips and it showed. Bad passes from everyone (including Turco), missed scoring opportunities with guys clutching the sticks too hard, and defense with goaltending that didn't live up.

This game was decided in the first period on a couple of plays. Very early on, Richards had a breakaway in which he fed a sweet pass across the ice and I think Erickson missed the pass on an open net that would have been a sure goal.

Then the Ducks got going.

The first goal given up was a defensive mistake that Turco didn't have much of a shot on. The second and third were goals that he keeps out when he's at the top of his game. They were both great efforts from a determined Ducks team, but the fact remains that Turco is entirely capable of stopping those two goals.

Honestly though, I'm giving myself tired head from thinking about the technical aspects of how we lost though, so lets get into some periphery shall we?




Cool things about this game:

-playoff hockey is an entirely different animal than the regular season. The building was packed at the drop of the first puck, the team was cheered off of the ice after warmups, and this building was JACKED UP after the open played.

-Speaking of the open, I had the privilege of sound designing and mixing the video montage that played just before the Stars took the ice. I thought it translated well from the control room, and again, the crowd was just NUTTY for the start of the game.

-The blackout (all fans were supposed to show up wearing black, and to seal the deal the Stars gave away thousands of black shirts at the gate) went pretty well. I'd say close to 85 or 90% participation from home fans.

-A series of strong "lets go stars!" led by the Fanatics in the balcony was echoed by the entire building throughout the third period. This really felt like a tight fan group tonight. There was some booing of the home team when the score got lopsided early, but that's to be expected after all of the energy and emotion put into the start of the game.

-Brendan Morrow and Brad Richards played playoff hockey throughout. They never backed down, never showed nerves, never made bad plays. They're probably the only two that I can single out from the seat that I held though.

I predicted after game two that we would split the games at home, and the first leg of that has come to pass. I also figured that of the games in the series that this would be the hardest to win. Game 4 will be more important, but I think we can expect the team to come out more focused and less jittery than we saw tonight.

The pre-game presentation went great and the fans came ready to go and stayed till the bitter end in a blowout. I expect more of the same on Thursday.