Ducks end Game 7 woes

ANAHEIM >> Nick Ritchie is an NHL playoff newcomer. The 21-year- old power forward wasn’t around for any of the Anaheim Ducks’ agonizing Game 7 defeats over the past four seasons.

So when he found a patch of open ice during the third period Wednesday night, Ritchie could let fly with a beautiful shot, his wrists unencumbered by the weight of history. After four years of agony and over a decade of fruitless Game 7s, the Ducks are finally the victors of a winner-take-all game — and now they’re halfway to another Stanley Cup.

Ritchie scored the tiebreaker, John Gibson made 23 saves and the Ducks ended their streak of five straight Game 7 losses with a 2-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers, advancing to the Western Conference finals for the second time in three years.

Andrew Cogliano scored the tying goal midway through the second period for the Ducks, who had blown a 3-2 series lead and lost a Game 7 on home ice in four consecutive seasons.

The Ducks fell behind the Oilers just 3:31 into this seventh game, but the rest of the night largely belonged to Anaheim, which finally showed some veteran mettle in the playoffs’ biggest crucible.

“We were down 1- 0 for a little bit, and we didn’t panic,” Ritchie said. “We actually started to play better once they scored, and we got another one and then we kind of brought it home with good defensive hockey.”

Ritchie beat Cam Talbot 3:21 into the third period, his second career playoff goal putting the Ducks ahead in a Game 7 for the first time in five years — and ahead of the Oilers for the first time in nearly 193 minutes since late in Game 4.

The Ducks ended their ignominious streak after the tense final minutes of a strong defensive performance to back Gibson’s best game of the postseason.

Anaheim will host the Nashville Predators in Game 1 of the conference finals Friday night.