Hiller is on fire

The Ducks made it their 5th straight win and 6th straight at home over the visiting Boston Bruins. The Ducks would see the first two goals for the Ducks from two rookies; first to put the Ducks on the board was 22-year old Minnesota born Dan Sexton as the second would come from 21 year old, Windsor, Ontario born Matt Beleskey.  For the Ducks, goals would come from Ryan Getzlaf which was also his 100th career (NHL) goal, the game winner would come form someone unexpected, Steve Eminger scored his first goal in a Ducks uniform. Beleksey also has a radio interview listen in here

22-year old Tuukka Rask a big goaltender, standing at 6-3, born in Finland opposed Jonas Hiller.

For the Bruins the goals came from  Zdeno Chara, Matt Hunwick, and Marco Strum. Chara's goal would come up as controversial, which was not reviewed by the league, as the league found no point and there really wasn't a reason to review his goal. Michael Ryder tripped up James Wisniewski and they were both tangled up. Wisniewski went awkwardly into the boards, his back snapping, but he is injury free and was back out on the ice in the same period.

24 year old Troy Bodie just in his fourth fight of the season, fought with Boston's Adam McQuid a line brawl also started when Zdeno Chara f/ace washed Bobby Ryan in front of Hiller's net.Both teams got into shoving matches, even Scott Niedermayer dropped his gloves, pushing about Bruins players.

Teemu Selanne sustained a fractured jaw, as teammate Ryan Whitney shot the puck in and towards the net, the newest Bruin Miroslav Satan blocked the shot, and it deflected hitting Selanne in the jaw. Blood poured from the cut. Head team doctor Tim Clark rushed to the Finn's side, and helped him off the ice along with other Ducks players

Hiller came up big when need be. He's been on fire and he's kept that fire going, he has been in net for the past five wins.  Last season, Hiller helped the Ducks make the playoffs after J.S. Giguere was on leave for personal off ice issues with his family back in his home town in Montreal. He helped the Ducks beat out the President Trophy winners the San Jose Sharks and helped take the Red Wings to game 7, where painful memories would come back to haunt fans but most of all him. Daniel Cleary scored the goal with less than five minutes left in the period and the Ducks just couldn't come back.  Cleary laid on his back after being knocked over and celebrated. Hiller's eyes welled up, holding back the tears, he differed to the referee saying it was goaltender interference,but the ref wouldn't budge. Surely, it was a makeup call for the Red Wings because Cleary did push his stick into Hiller's pads.

You don't miss with a goalies rhythm, especially a butterfly goaltender such as Hiller, Carlyle has stuck with Hiller for the majority of the time. We'll just have to hope, if and when the Ducks lose a game, see if he'll stay in net or if Carlyle has gone back to that mantra. There is an issue stating Giguere, who has been sidelined for the past six games. He's cold. And with Giguere, if he doesn't get consistent play he'll falter in the long run. If he does play, he should have a much more improved team in front.

Hiller, along with Giguere has been fighting for the No 1 spot, which was up for grabs and has been since the beginning of the NHL season.Hiller has shown a lot more consistency in his games, and a tough back to back when he played Nashville and then Chicago, who he absolutely stone walled. Within the past games, Hiller has robbed players, including ended Patrick Kane's point streak. He robbed David Krejic more than once in the game against the Bruins.

A question is still being steered aside, is Hiller the new No. 1 goalie? He very well could be, he has definitely shown no 1 material and his play has improved a lot over the time he first came into this league. Hiller was also a factor in waiving Illya Bryzgalov after the 2006-2007 season. Another question lies, if Hiller certainly is the No 1 goaltender, where would this stand for J.S. Giguere? According to rumors, which have also been confirmed, Giguere gave Murray his last of teams he wouldn't mind going to and the top two teams were the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs two teams close to his home or in his hometown. As it would make sense, what factors in for the Leafs is goaltender coach Francois Allaire, who is most famously known to shaping Patrick Roy signed with the Leafs after 13 years service with the Ducks and heavy work with both Giguere and Hiller.

Hiller has improved reading and reacting to plays through traffic which new goalie coach, Pete Peeters most likely has worked on with Hiller. Also, with puck handling with both goaltenders; Hiller isn't exactly the best goalie to play the puck, as he for  the most part blindly pases the puck in pressure situations because he doesn't know where his teammates are on the ice.Hiller has been on fire, he's set the tone for himself, and while Giguere wants to play he has been very supportive over his fellow teammate. As the two have gotten a long right off the bat. Hiller said, Giguere came up to him when he first came to this league, and said "Don't hesitate to ask if you need anything. I'm here for you"

And the question lies, is Hiller our no 1 goalie? or is he being showcased? Hiller is still in need to sign an extension, which he did not do over the summer. His contract ends this season and unrestricted free agent (UFA) Giguere still has one more year left on his No Trade Clause (NTC) which will pay him 7 million if he continues his career as a Duck next season.