Poise pays dividends for Ducks
ANAHEIM, CALIF. Ryan Kesler blocked a shot in front of the Anaheim Ducks’ net in the waning seconds of their playoff opener and then the all-star centre simply sat down on the puck.
Three Calgary Flames frantically tried and failed to dislodge him from his casual perch. Only a referee’s whistle for a delay-of-game penalty could get Kesler to stand up — but by then, the Ducks’ 3-2 victory was just 0.9 seconds away.
“I was in the slot. I didn’t know what was around me,” Kesler said with a wry grin. “I wasn’t doing anything else but sitting on that thing. I was trying to (run the clock out). I almost did.”
The play was comical to watch, but it also demonstrated a remarkable veteran savvy earned the hard way by several Ducks. Anaheim is hoping this is finally the year its previous playoff disappointments provide the knowledge necessary to go all the way.
“This group has been together for a while and we’ve been tested in a lot of different situations,” said Anaheim captain Ryan Getzlaf, who had a goal and an assist. “We’re going to have to earn everything. That’s a great hockey team over there. We’re going to have to continue to get better at certain areas, but we found a way.”
The Ducks haven’t always been able to find those ways. Their playoff struggles have been their defining feature over the previous four campaigns.
They’ve infamously blown a 3-2 series lead and lost a Game 7 on home ice in four consecutive seasons. Anaheim was stunned in the first round by Nashville last season, leading to coach Bruce Boudreau’s firing despite winning four straight Pacific Division titles and falling one game short of the Stanley Cup Final one season earlier.
The Ducks added a fifth division banner this season under coach Randy Carlyle, who led them to their only championship a decade earlier. Carlyle hasn’t made a wholesale overhaul of any aspect of Anaheim’s approach, but he’s counting on the Ducks’ veteran leaders to show the intangible toughness necessary to get post-season victories.
In their opener against the less experienced Flames, the Ducks showed impressive poise. Until the final three minutes of Game 1, Calgary’s Dougie Hamilton alone committed as many penalties as the Ducks’ entire roster: three.
Anaheim resisted the urge to take a run at Calgary captain Mark Giordano, who injured all-star defenceman Cam Fowler last week with a knee-on-knee hit. Getzlaf still delivered a crushing check on Giordano in the third period.
“It’s nothing against him,” Getzlaf said. “He was just the guy that had the puck.”
The Ducks got their tying goal when defenceman Kevin Bieksa alertly spotted a terrible Calgary line change and got the puck up to Getzlaf and Rickard Rakell. Anaheim got its other two goals on the power play.
“We did a nice job making the most of our opportunities,” said Jakob Silfverberg, who scored the winner. “We just need to keep doing that.”