Elimination games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs usually bring out the best of both teams involved in the encounter. The team who needs a single win to advance to the next round hopes to close out the affair against an extremely desperate foe on the other side, who clings on to the smallest hope that their season will remain ongoing. They leave everything out on the ice, and even then is it sometimes not enough to overcome the dominating force they are pitted up against.
For the Anaheim Ducks, they hoped to play the role of spoiler as they strolled into the United Center with confidence despite blowing a two-goal lead in 72 seconds in Game 5. After all, they lead the Western Conference Final three games to two thanks to Matt Beleskey’s OT winner and remained undefeated in regulation in this year’s postseason through 14 games.
But ending the Blackhawks season is not an easy task, as Chicago was a mere goal away from appearing in their third Stanley Cup Final in the past half decade last year against the Los Angeles Kings despite falling behind in the series 3-1. A fluky bounce off defenseman Nick Leddy in overtime in Game 7 was the dagger in the Blackhawks campaign last year, but the experience gained was beneficial, nonetheless.
Since 2008-09 (when current head coach Joel Quenneville took the reins), the Chicago Blackhawks were 9-4 in elimination games and 3-1 in Game 6’s when trailing in the series coming into tonight. Would the Blackhawks impressive resiliency be put on display once again or would the Anaheim Ducks head to their first Stanley Cup Final appearance since 2007?
GAME 6
There was a less than scintillating pace to Wednesday night’s game, differing from Game 5, which saw the Ducks score three goals in the opening period. The open space was finite and there were several stoppages in play before the halfway point of the first set of twenty minutes. At one point, the Blackhawks had won 13 draws out of 13. Both teams had a powerplay opportunity to put their club ahead, but to no avail.
Goaltenders Corey Crawford and Frederik Andersen didn’t face any serious scoring chances as neither team was able to beat the men in between the pipes in the first period. It was zeroes across the scoreboard after 20 minutes, while the United Center crowd remained an arena filled with nervous energy, eager to be brought to their feet.
The second period then offered the exhilarating action and tenacity that hockey fans were used to seeing between these two teams as the flood gates opened.
For the Blackhawks, at least.
Chicago got on the board thanks to a Brandon Saad breakaway in which the American picked up his 5th goal of the postseason after beating Andersen between the wickets. This marked the second straight home game in which Saad registered the first goal for the Hawks on a breakaway, but this time it was an even-strength tally (as opposed to his Game 4 SHG).
138 seconds later, Duncan Keith received a pass from Brad Richards at the top of the left circle where he faked a shot not once, but twice before dishing the feed to Marian Hossa, who had a wide open side to finish it off for his third goal of the playoffs. The United Center was jumping, but little did they know that the home team wasn’t done.
Less than two minutes after Hossa’s goal, Keith kept the puck in at the line and then sent it down to Patrick Kane who finessed past Beleskey and beat Andersen five-hole. It was the Buffalo, NY native’s tenth of the playoffs to put the Blackhawks up by a total of three.
In 3:45, Chicago had scored a trio of goals. Anaheim’s Patrick Maroon cut the Blackhawks lead to two on an impressive re-direction before the second period concluded, but the home team’s damage had been done. After 40 minutes, the Hawks lead 3-1.
Bruce Boudreau’s club was determined on scoring the next goal to bring his team within one, and that’s exactly what would occur shortly after the beginning faceoff in period three. Clayton Stoner’s drive from the point beat Crawford up high after his glove was bumped into by Jakob Silfverberg at 1:57. The Hawks netminder was absolutely livid with the call, but the referees did not go to the video review to determine whether the Ducks second goal was a result of goaltender interference. It was now a one-goal game with the majority of the final frame remaining.
No lead is safe in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and the Ducks and Hawks had proved this theory in the previous games of the series.
In Game 4, the Ducks scored three goals in 37 seconds to come back and take a stranglehold of the momentum. But this time around, shortly after the Ducks controlled the puck in the Hawks zone for a significant amount of time, Andrew Shaw’s pair of goals provided insurance for the team in red and black, putting the game out of reach. Comeback: denied.
First, Andrew Desjardins sent a nifty pass to Shaw on a 2-on-1 chance and the 23-year-old capitalized, lifting a backhanded effort above Andersen and underneath the bar at 16:28. The 5th round selection in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft would then score an empty-netter, sending the series back to Anaheim. Game 6 would end in the Blackhawks favor by a score of 5-2.
Chicago had knotted up the Western Conference Final 3-3, lead by Keith’s three assists, who leads the NHL among defenseman with 16 points. It was the first time the Anaheim Ducks had lost a playoff game this postseason in regulation.
The Eastern Conference Final between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the New York Rangers is also currently tied at three games apiece, as Game 7 in Madison Square Garden is on Friday.
Game 7 of the Western Conference Final will take place the following night in the Honda Center in Orange County, California to decide whether the Ducks or the Blackhawks will move on to the Stanley Cup Final. It’s certainly a marvelous time to be a hockey fan or as NBC Sports color commentator Eddie Olczyk would say…
Tremendously tremendous.
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