Nashville is officially a hockey town! With the series tied 3-3, the victor of May 10’s game moves on to face the Nashville Predators in the Western Conference final, so both teams will be in full battle mode. “So it’s been wild to see them playing like this now and to be a part of the action”. The Ducks have size, but the Predators have a deep defense and the knowledge that they beat the Ducks in the playoffs past year. The Predators entered the postseason as the eighth seed in the West, and they’ve gone on to sweep the number one seed Chicago Blackhawks and take down the St. Louis Blues in six games.
Advertisement
The Oilers rebounded from a game five disappointment on Friday in which they blew a 3-0 lead and lost 4-3 in double overtime. After the Ducks iced the puck and used their timeout with 1:03 to go, Edmonton never had another shot on goal.
The man in the mask: Not only has Pekka Rinne elevated his play in the postseason for the first time in his career, he has been a notch above every other goaltender this postseason.
The Predators are in unfamiliar territory with this being their first appearance in the Western Conference Final.
They made great strides this season, but losing still hurt. If the Predators’ top line can crack a young but skilled Ducks’ defense, Nashville could take the series. James Neal scored on a one-timer from the right circle nine minutes and 24 seconds into sudden-death play, giving the Predators a victory in a series opener for the third time this spring.
With Eberle making $6-million a year for two more seasons, there is speculation that he’ll be traded over the summer. That gives him a playoff leading line of an astounding.951 SV% and 1.37 GAA. Subban had an assist.
It will be a rematch from a year ago when the Preds beat Anaheim in seven games to advance to the conference semifinals.
But if the Predators continue to do what they’ve been doing, the Ducks are in for a tough battle.
Nick Ritchie scored the winning goal 3:21 into the third period as the Anaheim Ducks defeated the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 in Game 7 on Wednesday night to win their second-round series. Getzlaf has registered eight goals and seven assists in 11 games with a plus-9 rating and a 54.6 faceoff win percentage. Defensively, they will be responsible for shutting down Ryan Getzlaf, who leads the Ducks with 15 points in the playoffs.
Anaheim won its first-ever playoff series after trailing 2-0.
However, what if the Ducks loss is for the better? They were all over the Oilers and finally tied it on Andrew Coglianos goalmouth scramble backhand at 8:55. The Ducks were home for two of the three meetings. As long as kids like Matt Benning, Drake Caggiula, Darnell Nurse and Anton Slepyshev turn this playoff experience into a big step forward next fall.
It was by nearly every measure, an incredible season. Defenseman Kevin Bieksa hasn’t played since Game 1 vs. the Oilers due to a lower-body injury but appears well ahead of Eaves in terms of recovery. Averaged 19:20 in ice time.
The Predators will make history tonight when they take the ice against the Ducks for the first Western Conference Final game in franchise history. Rinne had 36 saves in that one. John Gibson needs all the help he can get in net.
“Obviously there’s more at stake when it’s the final game”, said Carlyle, who won the Cup in 2007 but hasn’t won a Game 7 since 2006.
Anaheim has been a very good possession team thus far this postseason, and are tops amongst the four remaining squads.
From an elite defense to depth scoring to phenomenal goaltending, the Ducks will have their work cut out for them in this series.
Advertisement
The Ducks acknowledged that the young Oilers led by McDavid and Leon Draisaitl should be a force in the Pacific Division for years to come. Their 1.40 goals-against average is a goal and a half better than Anaheim’s postseason GAA.
