The series almost everyone wanted to see did not disappoint. Before the series everyone wanted to talk about last years western conference finals between this same Chicago Blackhawks team and another team from southern California the Los Angeles Kings. A true classic series, once you saw one team pull away, maybe you stopped paying full attention and before you knew it it was a one goal game, tied or even better the trailing team was now winning somehow. If you haven’t seen that series from 2014 make sure you go check it out.
Has this series between the Blackhawks and Anaheim Ducks lived up or even passed that, who knows, that’s not for me alone to decide but I can tell you, this was one heck of a series. In terms of the standings these weren’t the two best teams, Anaheim was the best in the west and Chicago was third best in their own division. Make no mistake about it though, everyone knew that getting to the Stanley Cup Finals meant getting through these two teams and no one did.
Game one you could tell the speed of both these teams, this was going to be and in fact was a fast series. Game 1 is about setting the pace for the next four, five six or seven games. The Ducks made their physical presence known putting heavy pressure on a shorthanded Chicago defense. The Ducks came at the Blackhawks fast, hit them hard and proved they could score on their way to a 4-1 game 1 win. Chicago played a good game 1 and were maybe even the better team but Anaheim proved to be too good too early and clamped down late.
If there is one thing the Blackhawks know how to do is to come back. After the Ducks got in penalty trouble early in game 2 and Chicago capitalizing on both early powerplay opportunities a quick 2-0 lead looked like this could be an easy game for Chicago. The Ducks again made sure their defense was good and started to chip away at the early deficit and eventually tie the game with two and a half minutes remaining in the game. This started the marathon. If you want to pick a team to win in a multiple overtime game in the playoffs, how could you not pick the Blackhawks? Winning a 3OT game back in the 2013 Stanley Cup Final game 1 and being in a 2OT and 3OT game already this postseason winning them both, the shorthanded Hawks never seem to tire. Chicago would go on to win this 3OT as well just three and a half minutes away from the fourth overtime. No need for the 4OT however as this was the longest game in Chicago Blackhawks history 126:12 long, nearly two games in one night.
The question for both teams after a triple overtime game is how much will that game take out of them for the next game, Chicago goes home, Anaheim has to travel to the windy city for game 3 series tied at 1-1. The Ducks didn’t seem to be lacking energy, the games stayed fast and furious, hits remained high, and Anaheim took game 3 in Chicago 2-1, now lead the Blackhawks in the series 2-1 and stole home ice advantage back.
Game 4 turned into another classic. After two periods we were tied 1-1 and looked to be heading towards another 2-1 squeaker, then the 3rd period started. Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews scored his 5th of the playoffs followed exactly five minutes later to make it 3-1 for Chicago and all they needed to do was lock the game down with less than thirteen minutes left in the period. Something happened that no one can really describe. Anaheim answered with 3 goals……in about 37 seconds. The fastest time a team has scored 3 goals since 1979 when Toronto scored 3 on the Atlanta Flames (Now Calgary Flames) in 23 seconds. didn’t matter in the end, the Ducks would end up taking a penalty which one of the most clutch players in the entire sport scored, Patrick Kane tied the game and we head to another overtime. Of course no one would score that OT and we head to 2OT. Count out the Blackhawks did you? Trade deadline acquisition Antoine Vermette, scratched in game 3, scored the 2OT winner. Sports are great aren’t they.
You can’t get better than what this series gave to that point. Until game 5. Five minutes into the game the Ducks open the flood gates, scoring another 3 goals in less than ten minutes. Blackhawks are dead, they can’t get three past a really good Ducks defense then get it past a solid netminder Frederik Andersen. Well they did. After getting 2 goals of their own to pull to within one the Ducks sealed it making the game 4-2 late in the 3rd. Only they didn’t seal it, Potentially the best Captain the sport has ever seen Toews put the team on his back and scored 2 goals in 1:12 forcing the game to OT….again. This time the Blackhawks didn’t get to outlast the Ducks in a multi OT game, this overtime only lasted 45 seconds when Duck Ryan Kesler took a shot that rebounded off of Hawks goalie Corey Crawford and Duck forward Matt Beleskey scored to give the Ducks a 3-2 series lead and a chance to finish the series in Chicago.
The start of game 6 was a slow one, in an elimination game at home you maybe expect Chicago to come out and push and put the pressure on the leading team that’s on the road. The first period ended without a goal and then you start to think once again this could be a low scoring game and if that stays the same Anaheim could finish off the Blackhawks tonight. Duncan Keith had other ideas. There are very very few defensemen in the league or even the world who can take over games. I’m not even sure Keith is one of these types of players, he’s a great player and a two time Norris trophy winner as best defensemen in the NHL but can he take over games? He did in game 6. Starting a play that ended in a breakaway goal for Brandon Saad, Minutes later refusing to shoot having everyone mad at him then setting up Marian Hossa and everyone calling him a genius, Then finally keeping a puck in off a Ducks clearance attempt giving the Puck to Patrick Kane and Kane working his magic. In 3:45 the Blackhawks went from being tied 0-0 to up 3-0 and Keith had 3 assists. That would be all Chicago needed eventually fighting off a Ducks comeback attempt to win 5-2 and force the much anticipated game 7.
Chicago and Blackhawks fans were probably hoping for a repeat of history in some way. Anaheim has not had a good showing in recent game 7’s. In 2013 they lost to the Detroit Red Wings, in 2014 they lost to the LA Kings, the Kings one being somewhat of a blowout. Game 7 in this series turned into the same old same old for Anaheim. Early in the first period the Blackhawks took the lead thanks to a Jonathan Toews rebound goal and he wasn’t even done in that period. Later Toews made it 2-0 and the doubt that dooms Anaheim in recent game 7’s had to creep in a little bit. With the score eventually getting to 4-0 Blackhawks the Ducks could never recover and lost game 7 5-2.
If there is one thing Anaheim and their fans can take from this series is that in my mind and I’m sure others feel the same, this was a classic series. This series had everything, one goal games, tight games, OT and multi OT thrillers, high scoring, and of course all of that through 7 games, what more could you ask for. People will talk about this series with the 2014 Blackhawks vs Kings. Unfortunately one team had to lose and for the Ducks it had to be them but this is not a series to be upset about, stick to what they’re doing and they could be in the finals and win the Cup next year.
What’s your thoughts on the series? Let me know in the comments or find me on Twitter or facebook.
