My first game at the Honda Center!

I was up in Los Angeles this past weekend and my buddy scored us some tickets to the Sharks - Ducks game in Anaheim. I’ve only ever seen the Ducks live in London to open this season, so was excited to head on down for the game and to buy myself a Ducks’ Jersey (last year’s black with Stanley Cup patch; I’m not a fan of this year’s slim fits).

Making the game all the better was the return of Scott Niedermayer and Ducks’ debut of Doug Weight. I will say that despite being up in 406, our view to the ice was near perfect. We started things off by hitting the King’s Fish House for some snacks and drinks. I’m no seafood fan, but the food was all excellent! Then, it was off down the street for the game.

Bobby Ryan was in the lineup playing alongside Doug Weight and Todd Bertuzzi. Now that’s a second line I definitely like. I really feel Weight will have a lot better chemistry with Bertuzzi than Andy did. The first goal of the game came on a precision pass from Doug Weight, far across the slot, onto the stick of Ryan who banged home his 2nd NHL goal. Ryan is making me believe he’s a finisher, something our team has lacked in many games this season. So far, so great.

Torrey Mitchell pulled out some nice quick moves to tie the game, while short-handed in the second period; this guy is like the Cheechoo of this year against us it seems. The score remained 1-1 for the rest of the game but not due to lack of trying. Both Giguere and Nabokov were busy, with Giguere providing more stellar saves in my opinion.

Corey Perry tried to take on Kyle McLaren which was funny, as I like Perry’s spirit and all but McLaren was simply brushing him off and probably would have killed him. They eventually got into it somewhat, but the refs didn’t let much go all game; I’m not sure why not, the players were all into it.

I did notice Doug Weight run out of steam by the end of the game; hopefully that’s not a trend that will continue. Anaheim also really has to work on their giveaways, I noticed a lot of them this game.

Joe Thornton capped the win for San Jose with a shootout goal past Giguere, who let in two other tallies during the 6 round shootout. The Ducks won both previous meetings with the Sharks in the shootout, so the Sharkssimply fed them a taste of their own medicine.

Niedermayer saw about 24 minutes of ice time in his first game back and was held to a single shot. Still, I’m sure each game he’ll get closer and closer to his style of play.

I enjoyed a great afternoon game at the Center and hope to see a few more games on my next trip up to Cali.