Keeping players fresh has become a science, with organizations investing time and money studying the best way to tackle travel situations like the one Nashville had against Anaheim, and will again against San Jose.
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The Ducks began the season by falling far behind in the standings, but eventually found their footing before a Game 7 defeat in the first round against the Nashville Predators.
For Boudreau, who is 1-7 in Game 7s, this was the toughest of the four Game 7 losses with Anaheim.
Pekka Rinne made 36 saves for the wild-card Predators, who rallied from a 3-2 series deficit and ousted the Pacific Division champion Ducks with a gritty road victory.
This was the Predators first Game 7 in their history and their first playoff series win since 2012.
“The one thing he does really well is he plays the puck, he’s really active, he catches a lot of pucks”, Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said. “We can learn from this series”.
“They get a breakaway and a tip and they score two goals, and we had so many chances and we couldn’t put it in”.
The Predators will face the San Jose Sharks in the second round while the Ducks prepare for long summer nights.
“Bruce is a good coach and character person, and we wish him the best of luck in the future”, Murray said. Forgive me if you are a San Jose fan, and feel free to keep that smirk right where it is.
The Sharks had to mount a comeback against the Predators in early April, doing so when Logan Couture scored the victor in a shootout to take it 3-2. Not much has changed on the Sharks roster from the time the Predators last played them and now.
“They’ve got some pent up energy here after four or five days sitting around watching, and they want to play”, DeBoer said. “I think both teams are happy that we’re starting tonight”.
The Ducks pushed hard in the second period but nothing was getting past Pekka Rinne.
The Ducks had numerous late chances to tie it while largely dominating the final two periods, outshooting Nashville 28-10. But a redirected shot clanked off Rinne’s post in the third, and nothing went in during a frantic final minute, leaving the Ducks with a mountain of frustration.
Boudreau is the second coach to fail to coax postseason poise out of Anaheim teams led by Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, the two fixtures on the Ducks’ roster since their only Stanley Cup title run in 2007. “I think they’ve had enough practices and are ready to get the series going”. Facing Game 7 pressure for the first time, they bent and scrambled, but never broke. The Predators advanced to the second round for the first time in four years. where the Sharks are waiting.
New York Islanders defenseman Thomas Hickey (14) leaps in the air with New York Islanders center John Tavares (91) after Tavares scored the winning goal in the second overtime period of Game 6 of an NHL hockey first-round Stan…
One reason: The Predators definitely got the Sharks’ attention with the impressive and dogged triumph over Anaheim.
So even though the Sharks had the sixth-best record in the Western Conference, they will be the higher-seeded team with home ice advantage in the next playoff round that opens Friday night at SAP Center. 945 save percentage and 1.80 goals against average in 20 career games against the Sharks. So the fact that we can get a week here of rest and recover and refresh has been very good for this group. “We did everything the hard way”.
While the Sharks made the playoffs two out of three years, both of those seasons ended with a 4-3 series loss to the Kings.
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The Ducks’ recent Game 7 failures followed similar scripts that all started with an early goal by the visitors: Detroit, Los Angeles and Chicago all scored in the opening 4 1/2 minutes.
