ANAHEIM — The stat of the day might have you believing that this series is over, despite the fact the Anaheim Ducks have perhaps had a bigger bite of the play through four games of this knotted up Western Conference Final.
To wit:
The Chicago Blackhawks have been even after four games in seven separate series since Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith began taking their Blackhawks into the post-season as the core of this Chicago leadership group. Of those seven series, all won by Chicago, not a single one has required a Game 7.
That’s right: when tied after Game 4, Chicago is 14-0 in Games 5 and 6. Yikes.
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Meanwhile, Anaheim lost Games 5, 6 and 7 to the Los Angles Kings last season in their second round ouster, and the year before lost Game 6 and 7 versus Detroit.
What does it mean? From here, we’d say the Ducks are sick of losing, and Chicago is due to lose a Game 5 or 6.
“We’ve got a best-out-of-three series where we have home-ice advantage,” said Anaheim’s Kyle Palmieri. “We just have to take care of business.”
Perry Dodge
Corey Perry has discovered the key to success for his Ducks. Just play the entire game tonight the way they played that 37-second span in Game 4, where Anaheim scored three goals.
“We started shooting the puck and found some success,” said Perry, who scored the third of the Ducks’ three goals in that 37-second span, the second-fastest three-goal spurt by a team in Stanley Cup playoff history. “It’s pretty simple. We gotta take that and use it for a full 60.”
Do the math. Three goals in 37 seconds, every 37 seconds, over a 60-minute hockey game. That would be 292 goals for the Ducks.
Barring overtime, of course.
No Panic Button
Neither team skated on Sunday, and though about 85 per cent of the Ducks took part in a morning practice on Monday, Chicago took the morning off.
That’s the sign of a team that has been through this many times before, and knows the drill. Remember, this is a two-time Cup-winning Blackhawks club that got scored on three times in 37 seconds, then calmly came out and potted the powerplay goal that sent Game 4 into overtime.
“It shows that team will never quit and they never panic. Those are the two things that I see,” said Anaheim head coach Bruce Boudreau. “They always believe in themselves and they don’t panic when things go wrong for them, because they’ve been through those wars.
“I mean, Chicago, if this was a young team, when we scored three goals in 37 seconds, might have fallen apart. But they regrouped. They stayed the course. They had success,” he continued. “I mean, every team that’s ever won has had to come back at some point. Very rare is that you keep sweeping, sweeping. I think L.A. did it a few years ago, but even last year, Chicago was down 3-1 to L.A. and they came back. That’s what pedigree brings.”
The Ducks see some dents forming in their opponents however. They are the bigger and, it turns out, deeper team — certainly on defence.
“We’re just going to keep with our game plan. I think it will wear them down. It’s going to wear them down,” Ryan Kesler said. “No human can withstand that many hits. We’re going to keep banging out there and going after them.”
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Kesler is fine with where the Ducks are, having lost two games in overtime. His Ducks haven’t lost in regulation yet this spring, and they are now deep into Round 3. That’s impressive.
“It’s another Game 1,” he said of tonight’s game. “A best-of-three, we’ve got home ice, and we’ve got to take this game. This game is very, very important tonight.”
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Lineup Notes:
Boudreau hinted that he had told some extra players to take the pre-game skate and be ready in case he uses them, but unless there are injuries, it’s hard to think either coach will make any changes. Silfverberg, who has emerged as a very useful player this spring, is in tonight after getting dinged in Game 4.
The officials will include referees Eric Furlatt and Brad Watson, while Derek Amell and Brian Murphy work the lines.
