Playing fierce and free, together
On the night the Blackhawks lost Game 5 in overtime, an exhausted Jonathan Toews stood in front of his locker and exuded a carefree attitude that would make any Southern Californian proud.
Toews projected an air of confidence that epitomized everything about the Blackhawks under Coach Joel Quenneville, a belief rooted in history and experience and every other intangible on display Saturday at the Honda Center in Game 7.
Chicago beat the Ducks, 5-3, at Honda Center to advance to their third Stanley Cup Final in six seasons because the Blackhawks Way is more than just a cheesy slogan and Toews refused to let his season end in a Game 7 loss as it did in 2014.
The Blackhawks did what the Blackhawks do: They relied equally on savvy and skill while the Ducks reacted like a team that realized it lacks a championship pedigree so important in games such as this. Ultimately, Chicago proved it is the most resilient team in hockey.
A series defined by its competitiveness ended in an anticlimax, but Chicagoans loved every minute of Blackhawks mastery. Anxiety over the Ducks quickly turned to anticipation for the Tampa Bay Lightning once it became clear the team that took the ice was the one that can look as invincible as it feels — one that understood how fleeting that feeling is under the circumstances.
More than the outcome of a game hung in the balance for the Blackhawks — the direction of a franchise depended on what happened in Game 7 with the great summer salary-cap purge of 2015 looming. And the Blackhawks responded to that reality like a group that wants to spend another two weeks together leaving a legacy. They played fierce and free, like a bunch of buddies cherishing every minute of ice time.
It all started with Toews because everything in big games always starts with the captain. In front of boyhood hero Wayne Gretzky, Toews was the greatest one for the Blackhawks, delivering one of those clutch playoff performances they will be describing when he enters the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Toews established the tone just 2 minutes 23 seconds into the game when he knocked a rebound off a Niklas Hjalmarsson wrister past Ducks goalie Frederik Andersen. Then at the 11:55 mark, Toews struck again on a power-play goal when he beat Andersen from above the right circle as Andrew Shaw screened the goalie.
If the Ducks already felt the pressure of losing another Game 7, Toews’ goal only made them squeeze their sticks a little tighter. A sense of deja vu began to permeate through an arena full of 17,375 fans who watched the Ducks blow a 3-2 series lead with a Game 7 loss on home ice for the third straight year
When Brandon Saad easily converted Patrick Kane’s pass into a wideopen net 1:18 into the second to make it 3-0, the Chicago fans started getting louder.
When officials upheld Marian Hossa’s goal after a video review, the audible roars of approval carried a Chicago accent.
The physical toll Ducks center Ryan Kesler predicted would wear down the Blackhawks by Game 7 — “No human can withstand that many hits,’’ Kesler said — never mounted. The longer the series went, the stronger Chicago looked.
If anything, the Blackhawks’ supposedly depleted defensemen in front of goalie Corey Crawford helped as much as anything to keep the Ducks’ playmakers at bay with the season on the line. Crawford rose to the occasion as he typically does, but the Blackhawks’ ability to block shots and limit traffic made his job easier.
Nothing the Ducks tried worked, except for a nifty goal by Kesler late in the second. A third-period goal by pest Corey Perry threatened to change momentum but Hossa thwarted that with a steal that drew a penalty. The resulting power play ended in a Brent Seabrook goal.
Ducks Coach Bruce Boudreau, nicknamed “Gabby,” had to be at a loss for words to see his team dominated. Boudreau, now 1-6 in Game 7s, will spend the summer explaining what went wrong while Quenneville deserves credit for making things right. As much as Quenneville’s unorthodox move to bench Antoine Vermette and Teuvo Teravainen contributed to a Game 3 loss, his decision to juggle his top line affected Games 6 and 7 wins.
Reuniting Kane and Toews alongside Saad, sparked the offense when the Blackhawks were one loss from elimination. Taking advantage of the Toews-Ryan Getzlaf matchup he liked Saturday, Quenneville also put Toews back on the ice opposite Getzlaf as much as possible.
Almost everything the Blackhawks tried resulted. in success. Failure never was an option, not with Toews leading the way.