CHICAGO -- Instead of letting the past determine their future, the Anaheim Ducks revealed an inner fortitude that now has them halfway to a berth in the Stanley Cup finals.
Less than 48 hours after a crushing triple-overtime defeat in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals, the Ducks turned up in one of the loudest, most difficult buildings to play in and came away with a 2-1 victory that gives them a 2-1 series lead.
It was not particularly pretty at times.
The Ducks seemed to fall into a potentially destructive shell in the third period as they tried to nurse a one-goal lead across the finish line, relying on netminderFrederik Andersen to come up huge -- again -- as Chicago outshot Anaheim 10-5 in the third period.
And the pace was well off the dazzling to and fro that dominated the epic clash in Game 2.
But when it mattered most on Thursday night, the Ducks proved they were made of sterner stuff than could be deflated by a triple-overtime loss. And the battle-tested Blackhawks revealed that perhaps winning a game in triple overtime can be as taxing as losing one.
“I know a lot of people in here tried to keep things as simple as we possibly could,” said Anaheim defenseman Cam Fowler, who had one of his strongest games of the playoffs in Game 3. "It’s never easy when you lose in three overtimes and you have a 3 1/2-hour flight here. I think there’s a lot of things that went into it, but I’m really proud of our guys for how we battled tonight. It took everyone out there, everyone contributed. So we’ll enjoy it tonight, but we have to make sure we improve for Saturday."
Fowler earned a secondary assist on Simon Despres' game-winning goal with 54.2 seconds left in the second period.
Despres slipped down the right side and blasted a low one-timer past Chicago netminder Corey Crawford and helped erase the memory of Tuesday’s gut-wrenching loss.
"I kind of took that night to just digest everything mentally, but when we came to the rink the next day we knew what we were up against," Fowler said. "We knew we had to start preparing for this game because the more you dwell on a loss like that it’s not going to do anything good for your group. I thought our resiliency was great tonight. It’s not easy to come in here and beat a great team like Chicago, especially at home."
While so much attention had been focused on the Ducks, how would they respond? Was Game 2 the kind of loss that sends a team off the rails for good? It turned out the Blackhawks were the ones out of sync.
It began with a couple of curious lineup changes as Chicago head coach Joel Quenneville added Kris Versteeg and Joakim Nordstrom in place of Antoine Vermette, a top trade-deadline acquisition for the Hawks, and Finnish rookieTeuvo Teravainen. The two new players combined for zero points and two shots on goal.
Quenneville insisted neither Teravainen nor Vermette was injured.
"We just wanted to get some fresh legs in there," Quenneville said.
Whether the lineup changes contributed to the Blackhawks' inability to get anything going offensively for much of the night -- they have scored just five times in three games and just three of those have come at even strength –- is impossible to tell, but if Quenneville was looking for a spark from the changes, it did not appear.
Not surprisingly, both teams were a bit gassed after Game 2, so it was a measure of the Ducks’ maturity that in spite of getting into penalty trouble, they didn't let the game get turned the opposite way and were outstanding playing down a man.
The Ducks were 5-for-5 on the penalty kill, including a double-minor for high sticking assessed to Jakob Silfverberg less than a minute after Patrick Maroongave the Ducks a 1-0 lead by deflecting a hard Hampus Lindholm shot past Crawford.
The other side of this coin, of course, is that the Blackhawks could not capitalize on these opportunities.
It was an uncharacteristic failure for a team that has forged a reputation as winners and champions by seizing these kinds of moments every spring.
"Had a lot of chances there, especially in the first period. Would have been nice to capitalize. Didn’t happen," said Patrick Sharp, who has yet to record a point in this series. "We’ll look at it in the next 24 hours and have an answer for you."
"Frustrating to the point that we lost. Frustrating because we had some opportunities, whether it was a power play or different chances and stuff to get ourselves back in the game," added Patrick Kane, who earned his first goal (and first point) of the series with a deft backhand after an ugly Anaheim turnover in the final minute of the first period.
"Other than that, we knew this was going to be a tough series, we knew this was a tough team. It’s tough to lose, especially at home. We’ve got to regroup here and make sure we’re ready for the next one."
The first part of this series has been about punch-counterpunch.
The Blackhawks responded after a 4-1 loss in Game 1 with a clutch triple-overtime win that knocked the Ducks from the ranks of the unbeaten at home in the playoffs. Now the Ducks have upped the ante by handing Chicago its first home playoff loss this spring.
"Two really good, experienced teams that know what it takes to win, no matter what building they’re in," Versteeg said.
"There’s no panic in here. We understand what we need to do. It’s a big game the next game to make it a best of three."
Would anyone be surprised if that’s exactly what happened on Saturday night?
Of course not.
But there is this: Ducks head coach Bruce Boudreau, who kept his lineup intact even though he hinted at possible changes earlier in the day Thursday, was asked in the morning how he thought his team would respond after the disappointment of Game 2.
He candidly said he could only know that with a crystal ball.
After the game was completed, though, Boudreau said he’d learned only what he already knew about his squad.
"Well, I think it told me what I know, is that they're a great character team. This was a character win," Boudreau said. "For a tired group, it was a really good game for us.
"The will on this team, I've said all year from day one, you could see it in training camp, you could see it in the preseason games. You guys would talk to me and say there's a different aura about this group. We haven't won anything, but there is a resiliency that's as good as most."
Tired? Maybe. Beaten? Not at all.
 |
| Digitally Sublimation Sublimation Transfer Lacross |
 |
| cheap sublimation lacrosse jerseys |
Victory Eagle Sports Garment Co. ,Ltd is a professional sports wear clothing manufacturing and exporting company. Our clothing includes custom lacrosse jersey, hockey jerseys,custom fishing jerseys, sublimated rugby jerseys,custom lacrosse jerseys and shorts,sublimated Racing shirts,singlets, polo shirts, T-shirts, jackets, outwear, sweatshirts, hoodies, pants, shorts, rugby shirts and sportswear,sublimated team uniforms, sublimation sportswear, outerwear, warm ups, teamwear, sports apparel and accessories for a lot of sports clubs, teams, schools, media marketing company and so on.
没有评论:
发表评论