Ducks’ barrage sail
Boudreau makes the right lineup moves amid perceptions and realities
Sometimes, coaches make lineup decisions based on a gut feeling. When those decisions backfire, their gut feelings can become spasms of tension, anxiety and early-playoff-exit regrets.
Ducks Coach Bruce Boudreau, fighting a reputation of being unable to lead talented teams in Washington and Anaheim beyond the first round of postseason play, made several decisions Friday that proved pivotal to the 6-2 victory that gave the Ducks a 3-2 lead over the Dallas Stars in the teams’ opening-round playoff series.
The Ducks can advance to the second round — which would be their deepest playoff foray of Boudreau’s tenure — if they win Sunday at Dallas. If the series continues the pattern of the home team prevailing, the Ducks would get another chance next Wednesday in Game 7 at the Honda Center. The winner will face the winner of the Kings-San Jose Sharks series, which the Sharks lead, 3-1, and can finish Saturday.
Boudreau was under
intense pressure to make the right personnel moves Friday after the Stars had pulled even in the series. He must continue to find the correct answers to each problem the Ducks encounter from now on, or he will never shake that label, fairly or not.
On the surface, that might seem extreme. Boudreau led the Ducks to their best regular-season record — 54-30-8 — and their firstever No. 1 seeding in the Western Conference while compensating for injuries and juggling respect for veteran Teemu Selanne against the reality of Selanne’s dwindling production. But it all comes back to Boudreau’s playoff failures with the Capitals and last season the Ducks; he must win a playoff round to avoid being thought of as a postseason underachiever.
It was difficult to argue against that label last season when the Ducks, who kept the No. 2 seeding despite a late slump, were eliminated by the No. 7 Detroit Red Wings in a seven-game first-round series. The Ducks led the series, 3-2, but lost Game 6 at Detroit and — unforgivably — mustered a flat effort in losing Game 7 at home.
Even so, losing to the Red Wings, who were newly healthy and proved their legitimacy by taking the eventual Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks to seven games in the second round, could be written off as misfortune and not Boudreau’s failure alone.
Losing to Dallas, which is making its first playoff appearance since 2008 and was the last of eight playoff teams in the West, might not cost Boudreau his job but could certainly make his position uncomfortable.
Boudreau guided them within one win of advancing by choosing to come back Friday with goaltender Frederik Andersen, even though the Danish rookie had looked shaky Wednesday in Game 4 and was pulled in favor of Jonas Hiller before the Stars wrapped up a series-tying 4-2 victory. Andersen was steadier Friday, stopping 34 shots and holding the Ducks in the game before they broke it open in the third period.
Boudreau also took a chance by scratching veteran forwards Kyle Palmieri and Daniel Winnik to bring back Selanne — a healthy scratch in Game 4 — and stud center Ryan Getzlaf, who missed the loss at Dallas because of an undisclosed upper-body injury. Selanne didn’t figure in the scoring but Getzlaf, again showing how impressively he has grown into his role as the team’s captain, contributed their fifth goal and two vital assists.
Boudreau also kept youngsters Rickard Rakell, Devante Smith-Pelly and Emerson Etem in the lineup, and Rakell repaid him by scoring a power-play goal in the first period, his first NHL goal. Because a stiff neck prevented standout rookie defenseman Hampus Lindholm from playing Friday, Boudreau replaced him with Luca Sbisa, who had a few good moments while playing the physical game Boudreau had wanted from him.
It helped the Ducks that the Stars’ defense collapsed under heavy pressure early in the third period Friday, allowing the Ducks to pull away. They’re not likely to get that kind of gift again Sunday. That means it will be up to Boudreau again to make the right moves that will move them into the second round, territory he and they haven’t explored together.