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.
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The Nashville Predators have advanced to the second round of the National Hockey League playoffs with a Game 7 road win against the Anaheim Ducks.
“It means a lot, and it shows a lot of character”, Rinne said.
History repeating: As we pointed out prior to the Anaheim series, every time Nashville has faced an opponent a second time in the postseason the result was the same as the first. So, we re just going to stick to what we do and try to be better than their power play. Rinne obviously seems like the better of the two goaltenders, especially if he plays at the same level he finished the Ducks series with, but it’s impossible to really tell at this point.
Nashville head coach Peter Laviolette says this is the most one of his teams have travelled in a playoff series since the Carolina Hurricanes met the Edmonton Oilers in the 2006 Stanley Cup final.
Part of me believes that the first five to six minutes may showcase a slower pace of hockey, where one team is waiting on the other to make a mistake.
The Predators were one of only three franchises (the Blue Jackets and the Thrashers/Jets are the others) to have never appeared in a Game 7.
“I think that’s all you can ask for, is another chance to start Game 1 in San Jose and work from there”, Predators forward James Neal said.
Boudreau has been at the helm of all four Game 7 defeats at home and his career record in series-deciding games fell to 1-7 overall, with his lack of success following him from Washington to Anaheim. The Ducks flipped the script slightly with a furious final two periods in which they outshot Nashville, 28-10. Ducks right wing Corey Perry was among the last to leave, as is his custom.
“I think everyone in our group saw the way we came out and executed in Game 6 and there was another boost of confidence for us”. “I don’t know what it is. They’ve got a great cycle game and pass it to the points, but our forwards did a great job getting in the shot lanes”.
Shot blocking played a huge role in both the Sharks and Predators advancing to the second round.
First, Colin Wilson scored six minutes into the game and then Paul Gaustad scored late in the period to make it 2-0 at the end of the first frame.
While storyline will be that the Ducks were beaten by another Game 7 – their fourth in a row – but the Predators see it a little differently.
This season’s playoff collapse included three losses on home ice. At what point does this Anaheim organization move on from the “Boudreau Special” like the Capitals did a few years ago?
Coach Randy Carlyle, who led the Ducks to the 2007 title, was sacked by Murray in November 2011 after a slow start.
“I don’t feel like we should be done right now”, Kesler said. “We did everything the hard way”.
“We’ve played a lot of games, but that being said they’ve had a big break”, said Fisher.
One problem for the Predators is on the offensive front as they averaged just two goals per game through the opening round and sophomore sensation Filip Forsberg had just one goal.
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The game nearly mirrored the New York Islanders and Tampa Bay Lightning game. Gaustad diverted the puck in after deflecting Shea Weber’s slap shot and despite a challenge from Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau, the score stood. Only one is going to win four more in this series.
