Ducks One Win From Stanley Cup Final

After losing Game 4 in double overtime the Ducks vowed that Game 5 would be different, speaking to the media the day before Game 5, Ducks Captain Ryan Getzlaf summed up the teams feelings facing their first test of the playoffs, “I think our intensity and our game goes up,” he said. “With the situation we’re in, it’s all about responding.”

Well it looked like the Ducks took their Captain’s words to heart because they started strong in the first period wasting no time getting a goal from defenseman Cam Fowler  scoring at the 5:10 mark with his second goal of the post season.  Like the third period of Game 4 where they scored 3 goals in 37 seconds, this time it was two goals in 32 seconds as Ryan Kesler was able to deflect a bouncing puck into the net scoring a goal for the second game in a row.

Anaheim Ducks

The Ducks continued to dominate the first period and were rewarded again when Ducks defenseman Sammi Vatanen scored making it 3-0 at 14:37 of the period.  The Ducks were so thorough in dominating the first period they didn’t allow the Blackhawks a shot on goal until there were 4 minutes left in the period and out shot them 11-3 for the period.  With a 3-0 lead after the 1st period, what could go wrong?

The Blackhawks did not make it to their fifth Western Conference Final in seven years by rolling over, the 1st period was the sixth time the Blackhawks allowed 3 goals in one period in these playoffs and they won four of those games. Proving time and again what a resilient team they are.

May 25, 2015; Anaheim, CA, USA; Chicago Blackhawks left wing

(86) is congratulated by left wing

(10) and center

(80) as Anaheim Ducks left wing

(19) looks on during the second period in game five of the Western Conference Final of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

Like the Ducks in the 1st period it was the Blackhawks turn to dominate as they came out firing in the 2nd period scoring just 61 seconds into the period on a Teuvo Teravainen goal that seemed easy to handle but it it trickled through the legs of Fredrick Andersen.  The Blackhawks continued to put on the pressure as they kept the Ducks from getting a shot on goal for the first 9 minutes of the second period, and then just like always with time running down in the period the Blackhawks struck again as Brent Seabrook scored with 24 seconds left in the period thanks to an assist from Teuvo Teravainen who won the puck behind the net.

The third period would prove to be just as exciting as Game 4’s was. After fighting off an early power play the Ducks began to apply pressure to the Blackhawks and were rewarded on a beautiful tic-tac-toe passing play as Getzlaf passed to Patrick Maroon down low giving the Ducks a 4-2 advantage with 5 minutes left in the game.  It all seemed like the Ducks had finally put away the Blackhawks, and if you believe that then you don’t know these Blackhawks.

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Like the resilient team that they are the Blackhawks proved that even when they are down they are never out of a game.  Lead by Captain Jonathan Toews the Blackhawks stunned the Honda Center crowd by scoring twice in the last minute of the third period, first Toews scored at the 18:10 mark with Andersen screened making it 4-3.  After a Ducks timeout the Blackhawks continued to pressure the Ducks with an extra skater on the ice, with 38 seconds left Towes shot a puck from below the red line at Andersen that somehow deflected in off his own skate tying the game turning the Honda Center into a tomb.

No more goals were scored and as everybody settled in for another long overtime all of a sudden it was over.  The Ducks pulled themselves out of their funk and just 46 second into overtime

scored his seventh goal of the playoffs tapping in a rebound as Blackhawks goaltender

was sprawled out on the ice.  As players spilled out onto the ice the Honda Center exploded with joy as much as relief of having avoided blowing a monumental chance to take the lead in this back and forth series.

The Ducks dodged a major bullet and now head back to Chicago for a chance to clinch the series and get to their third Stanley Cup Final.