Ryan is back, with tales of Teemu, Corey, Jonas and a delicious pair of brothers – the Koivus… Koivuses? The Ducks are on the road this weekend, the Preds on Saturday and the increasingly fiesty Blue Jackets Sunday. It’s time to get your game face bill on.

The Brothers Koivu, Mikko and Saku

“The Ducks are in the midst of a 7 game road trip that takes them across the country over 13 days. They opened the trip Tuesday night in Chicago, and despite leading 2-1 in the third- salvaged a point- in the shootout loss.

They were back on the ice yesterday in Minnesota, in a building that has not been very kind to the Ducks in recent years. 

It also pitted brother versus brother, as Saku squared off against younger sibling Mikko. The Koivus saw a lot of time against eachother early in the game- and with both being centers, squared off head to head in the face-off circle.  It was the 10th meeting for the brother’s, and heading in the younger Mikko held the advantage in the win column 5 to 4.  As far as gay hockey fans are concerned- this is a matchup worth watching….

Ryan Getzlaf

The Ducks, who had been struggling on the powerplay heading into the game, capitilized on their first opportunity of the game.  After a Getzlaf face-off win back to the point, Fowler slid the puck to Visnovsky. After fumbling the pass he managed to punch it just past the pressing winger to Teemu.

Teemu won the loose puck to Getzlaf who put it through the Wild defenseman right to Corey Perry for an easy goal, his 4th of the year.  Most of the 1st period was played in the Wild’s zone and the Ducks skated to a 1-0 lead .

Teemu!

Bobby Ryan padded the lead when he dug out a rebound around 7 minutes into the 2nd. Toni Lydman’s point shot, with Teemu Selanne screening provided enough trouble for Backstrom to handle the rebound. Selanne kicked the puck back out of the crowd so Ryan could bury it. 

The Wild finally got on the scoreboard when they took advantage of their own powerplay when Hillers rebound from the point went right on the stick of Jared Spurgeon for his 1st of the year. The young defenseman had most of the net to shoot at. 

The Ducks looked to close out the Wild when Ryan Getzlaf scored his 4th of the year on a nice feed down low from Teemu Selanne on the powerplay.  The 3rd assist of the night for Teemu, his 28th 3 assist night of his career, tied him with Mats Sundin for 26th all-time on the NHL points list. The sure to be Hall of Famer now has 9 points in his last 6 games.  Do I need to remind anyone that he is 41?! 

Jonas Hiller

After the Wild converted on the powerplay again to get back in the game they wound up being there own worst enemy with 2 penalties in the last 5 minutes. Just as they were about to kill Guillerme Latondresse’s delay of game penalty, Matt Cullen got called for a trip on Bobby Ryan.  Although the Ducks did not convert on either powerplay- they controlled the game and killed the clock. 

Not to be lost was Jonas Hiller’s 23 saves on 25 shots. He as usual made some big saves when the Ducks needed it most.

MVPerry

The Duckies continue there road trip this weekend with back to back games. Saturday they travel to Nashville looking to avenge last year’s first round playoff ousting.

Pekka Rinne was a beast in the series. Ryan Suter and Shea Weber are sure to see the ice every time Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry take a shift. Both teams are again playoff hopefuls.

Sunday the Ducks visit the Columbus Blue Jackets, who have struggled mightily to begin the year. The Blue Jackets did get ex-Duck James Wisniewski back from his lengthy suspension earlier this week, he helped them get their first win versus the Red Wings on Tuesday night.

Last night they lost to the Sabres- sending them to a 1-8-1 mark 10 games in.  Rick Nash however is always good against the Ducks, and both teams will be coming off Saturday games so anything can happen. It should be an exciting weekend of hockey.

Follow Ryan, our favorite Duck, on Twitter: @Hocky09