On Craig Smith’s two point night, the Nashville Predators have taken a two-game lead over the Anaheim Ducks by winning 3-2 before making the trip to Music City.
Andrew Cogliano opened the scoring with 5:40 remaining in the opening frame with an unassisted backhander, but they couldn’t hold that lead into the intermission, as Mattias Ekholm, assisted by Colin Wilson and Smith, leveled the score on a backhander with 56 seconds remaining in the frame.
Both sides certainly had their opportunity to find more offense, as a total of five penalties were committed for three power plays (favoring Nashville by a lone advantage).
Smith liked being involved in the scoring, so he gave the Predators a 2-1 lead at the 9:55 mark on a wrister, assisted by Filip Forsberg and Third Star of the Game Roman Josi. Josi passed the puck to Forsberg, who pulled the net behind John Gibson’s net. As Smith advanced towards the crease, Forsberg put the puck on his stick, allowing Smith to find the left post. Things leveled out following that tally, as neither team was able to effect that score. With 2:30 remaining in the second period, David Perron was sent to the box for interference against Ryan Ellis, which proved to be costly, as Shea Weber’s slap shot, assisted by Josi and Forsberg, found the back of Gibson’s net at the 19:21 mark to set the differential at two tallies, and proved to be the eventual game winner.
With 2:42 remaining in regulation, Second Star Nate Thompson’s backhander, assisted by Jakob Silfverberg and Cogliano made things interesting, as he connected to pull the Ducks within a goal. But, even with the extra attacker from pulling Gibson, Anaheim was not able to defend their home ice and level the game.
Although this was a fun, tight game to watch according to the scoreboard, the true story was being played out along the boards. 79 total hits were thrown in the game, with the majority (47) thrown by the losing Ducks, who also sat in the box three times as long as Nashville.
First Star Pekka Rinne earns the victory after saving 27 of 29 shots faced (93.1%), while Gibson takes the loss, saving 24 of 27 (88.9%).
These teams will meet up again in Nashville on Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. eastern. That contest can be viewed on SN360, TVAS2 or USA.
Pekka Rinne, and the usual suspects for the Nashville Predators when it comes time for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, stunned the Anaheim Ducks in Game 1 of their series, emerging victorious on road ice, 3-2. Rinne made 27 saves on 29 shots against for a .931 SV% while picking up the win, as Anaheim’s goaltender, John Gibson made 30 saves on 33 shots against for a .909 SV% in the loss.
Gibson had appeared in four Stanley Cup Playoff games heading into Friday night at the Honda Center, having gone 2-2 with a 2.70 GAA, and entered the night as the regular season’s tied-for-2nd best goaltender in goals-against-average with St. Louis Blues goalie, Brian Elliot, with a 2.07 GAA behind only Tampa Bay Lightning goalie, Ben Bishop’s 2.06 GAA.
James Neal started the scoring for Nashville 35 seconds into the first period and gave the Predators a 1-0 lead with some help from Ryan Johansen.
The Predators and Ducks then swapped minor penalties about four minutes apart nearly seven minutes and eleven minutes into the opening frame, with Nashville forward, Mike Ribero, being sent to the box for hooking at 7:08 and Anaheim defenseman, Simon Despres, sent to the sin bin for high sticking at 11:24 of the first period. Neither team was successful on their first power play opportunities of the night.
At 16:15 of the first period, Nashville’s Anthony Bitetto was called for holding the stick of Ducks forward, Nate Thompson, giving Anaheim a power play. Less than 40 seconds later, the Ducks went on a two-man advantage with star defenseman, Shea Weber, going to the box for cross checking David Perron.
Anaheim’s Ryan Getzlaf capitalized on the ensuing 5-on-3 power play with his first playoff goal of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs assisted by Cam Fowler and Corey Perry at 17:39 of the first period to tie the game at 1-1. Shots on goal were even at 12-12 after the first twenty minutes of play and the Ducks were leading in hits (16-12), faceoffs (17-9) and giveaways (7-2), while the Predators led in takeaways (1-0) and blocked shots (8-4).
The second period started with another quick goal, however, it was scored this time Anaheim Ducks forward, Ryan Kesler, to give the Ducks their first lead of the night at 2-1, 48 seconds into the 2nd. Kesler’s goal was assisted by Andrew Cogliano (1) and Hampus Lindholm (1).
Nashville responded to Anaheim’s goal with a goal from Colin Wilson at 7:55 of the 2nd period, with help from Ryan Ellis (1) and Roman Josi (1) to tie the game, 2-2.
Both teams continued to swap chances as the rest of the second period went on and after forty minutes of play the Predators were leadings in shots on goal 25-20, takeaways (3-1) and blocked shots (12-11). Anaheim, on the other hand, led in faceoffs (26-17) and giveaways (12-6) after forty. Both teams had 27 hits aside.
Twenty-five seconds past halfway in the third period, Filip Forsberg shot the puck towards Gibson and it appeared to have deflected off of Anaheim’s Shea Theodore and wound up behind Gibson. Forsberg’s fluke goal proved to be the game winner, as the Ducks could not answer the Predators tally, despite trailing 3-2 with almost half a period left in regulation.
Anaheim used their timeout with 1:51 remaining in the game and had pulled their goaltender, but it was to no avail. Nashville kept the puck out of their zone and forced the Ducks to recover and retreat.
After sixty minutes of play, the Nashville Predators had won 3-2 and took a 1-0 series lead on the home ice advantage, Anaheim Ducks. The Preds ended the game with 33 shots on goal compared to the Ducks 29. Nashville also led in hits (33-31) and blocked shots (20-17), while Anaheim dominated the faceoff dot (42-27), giveaways (20-11) and went 1/4 on the power play. The Predators failed to convert on all three of their power play opportunities and tied the Ducks in takeaways (5-5).
This is just the 2nd time that the Anaheim Ducks and the Nashville Predators have met in a Stanley Cup Playoffs matchup. The previous series between these two teams was back in the 2011 Western Conference Quarterfinals, where Nashville went on to win the series in six games (4-2). That same series was the first playoff series win in the Predators franchise history, before succumbing to the Vancouver Canucks in the 2011 Western Conference Semifinals.
Game 2 of this year’s 2016 Western Conference Quarterfinal between Anaheim and Nashville is slated for Sunday at 10:30 PM EST on NBCSN, live from the Honda Center in Anaheim, before swinging to the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville for Game 3 on Tuesday.
In front of 22,089 fans at the United Center on Wednesday night, the Chicago Blackhawks were able to stave off elimination and force a Game 7 on Saturday night in Anaheim with a 5-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks. Patrick Kane’s 10th goal of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs was the game winning goal in the Blackhawks winning effort as Corey Crawford made 30 saves on 32 shots against to pick up the win.
Anaheim’s, Frederik Andersen, made 18 saves on 22 shots faced in the loss. Chicago’s Andrew Shaw and Duncan Keith had impressive efforts as well, with Shaw scoring two goals and Keith earning three assists on the night.
A scoreless first period ended with 10 shots on goal for Anaheim and 6 shots on goal for Chicago. The Blackhawks also dominated faceoff wins 15-4, while the Ducks led hits 18-15 and blocked shots 13-5. Both teams went 0/1 on the power play as Anaheim couldn’t capitalize on a too many men bench minor against the Blackhawks, 1:59 into the period, and Chicago couldn’t score on their power play opportunity as a result of Corey Perry’s hooking penalty at 7:06 of the 1st period.
At 8:23 of the 2nd period Brandon Saad raced down the ice on a breakaway and landed a shot past Andersen and into the back of the net for a 1-0 Blackhawks lead. The goal was Saad’s 5th of the playoffs and was assisted by Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith. A little over two minutes later, Chicago went ahead 2-0 on a goal from Marian Hossa with help from Keith and Brad Richards. Finally, at 12:08 of the 2nd period, Kane picked up his 10th goal of the postseason with Keith earning his 3rd assist of the night, cementing a 3-0 Blackhawks lead a little past halfway into the period.
Brad Richards took a hooking penalty at 14:08 of the 2nd period, resulting in a Ducks power play. Anaheim stopped some of the bleeding with a power play goal from Patrick Maroon via crafty work by Cam Fowler and Sami Vatanen. For now, at least, the score was 3-1 and the Ducks successfully displayed a sign of life. Ryan Kesler gave Chicago their third and final power play opportunity of the night after tripping goaltender, Corey Crawford, setting the standard for a little more contact with both goalies in the 3rd period.
Shots on goal were deadlocked at 19-19 and hits were tied, 30-30, by the second intermission. Anaheim led blocked shots 18-8 and were 1 for 2 on the power play, while Chicago continued to dominate faceoff wins, 29-11, and were 0 for 3 on the man advantage.
Andrew Shaw celebrates one of his third period goals in Game 6 of the 2015 Western Conference Finals in Chicago. Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
The 3rd period got off to a quick start for the Ducks, showing signs of a potentially thrilling comeback, as Clayton Stoner notched his 1st goal of the playoffs at 1:57 of the period. Nate Thompson and Jakob Silfverberg were credited assists on Stoner’s goal. Silfverberg, in fact, clipped Crawford’s glove as he was skating in front of the net, causing some to argue for goaltender interference, but the fact of the matter was that 1) Silfverberg was well out of the crease 2) knew where Crawford was in relation to where he was heading and 3) Crawford might have stuck his glove hand out to bat Silfverberg away, thus hampering his own chances at being fully able to make a save.
At least, those might have been a few things that crossed the referee’s mind in not making a call and reversing the goal on the ice.
Kesler and Silfverberg’s bumps into the goalie weren’t the only ones in the game. Nearly a minute and a half after Stoner’s goal, Chicago’s Andrew Desjardins was sent to the box for goaltender interference in a clear disregard for the established “don’t touch the goalie” rule after knocking down Frederik Andersen in the crease, perhaps in retaliation for the Ducks called and uncalled run ins with Crawford.
Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
The pace of the game settled in until there was about three and a half minutes to go, when the intensity really picked up as Anaheim desperately tried for a tying goal. Instead, Desjardins had a quick breakout with Andrew Shaw, who began to put away the hopes of a Ducks comeback in Game 6 with his 3rd goal of the playoffs at 16:28 of the period.
The Blackhawks had amassed 22 shots on goal, seven fewer than the Ducks, and yet had a 4-2 lead and were closer to a Game 7 than the Ducks were to a comeback. It wasn’t long before Anaheim was outshooting Chicago 31-22 and had an offensive zone faceoff with Andersen already pulled and 1:05 remaining in the game.
At 19:11, Shaw put away an empty netter for his 2nd goal of the night, assisted by Desjardins, and gave the Blackhawks a 5-2 lead. The Ducks ended the night with 32 shots on goal and Chicago wrapped up the game with 23 shots on net. Anaheim continued to display a much more physical game, leading in hits, 43-38- although that usually means that the more physical team spent less time with the puck.
Chicago amassed 33 faceoff wins in the game, compared to Anaheim’s 17 faceoff wins, and reduced the differential in blocked shots to 4, with Anaheim leading 23-19. Anaheim finished the night 1 for 3 on the power play, while the Blackhawks were 0 for 3 on the night.
Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
With the 5-2 win at home, the Chicago Blackhawks tied the series 3-3, sending the Western Conference Finals to a Game 7 on Saturday night at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
Puck drop is scheduled for 8 PM on NBC.
The winner will not only be the Western Conference champion, but will have the advantage of knowing who they will face in the 2015 Stanley Cup Finals, as the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning battle in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Friday night at Madison Square Garden.
This year marks the first time since 2000, that both conference finals have gone all the way to Game 7’s to determine the Stanley Cup Finalists. Fifteen years ago, the New Jersey Devils beat the Philadelphia Flyers to represent the Eastern Conference, while the Dallas Stars topped the Colorado Avalanche to represent the Western Conference.
After a 4-1 loss in Game 1, the Chicago Blackhawks made sure they started Game 2 with a bit more intensity- and that they did. After leading 2-0, the Blackhawks almost let the Anaheim Ducks take a 2-0 series lead after Anaheim tied the game in the 2nd period. But it would take three overtimes before Game 2 was settled.
Marcus Kruger scored just his 2nd of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs, clinching the 3-2 win and tying the 2015 Western Conference Finals series at one game apiece, in what had started as Tuesday night on the East Coast and spilled over to shortly after two in the morning on Wednesday. It was Chicago’s longest game in franchise history, surpassing a 3-2 triple overtime victory over the Montreal Canadiens back on April 9th, 1931.
Corey Crawford, the winning goaltender, made 60 saves on 62 shots against, while Anaheim’s Frederik Andersen made 53 saves on 56 shots. Combined, both teams had 118 shots on goal. Game 3 of the series shifts to the United Center in Chicago on Thursday night.
At 2:14 of the first period, Chicago’s Andrew Shaw, got the Blackhawks on the board on a power play goal assisted by Duncan Keith and Jonathan Toews. About four minutes later, the Blackhawks scored another power play goal, this time on a deflection from Marian Hossa, assisted by Bryan Bickell (who tipped it towards Hossa in the first place) and Brad Richards. It was the first two goal deficit that the Anaheim Ducks faced in the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
As things looked more and more like the game was going to be all Chicago, the Ducks found their way on the scoreboard with a deflection of their own off of the skate of Andrew Cogliano, assisted by Nate Thompson and Cam Fowler. The Honda Center crowd was right back in the thick of things as momentum pulled a 180 and began favoring Anaheim.
By the end of the 1st period, the Blackhawks were outshooting the Ducks 12-7- much like how they outshot the Ducks for the entirety of Game 1- while hits were 24-15 in favor of Anaheim, and faceoff wins were 12-9 in favor of Chicago.
The 2nd period saw the familiar domination we’ve come to expect from the Anaheim Ducks in the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Anaheim played a more physical game than the Blackhawks in Game 1 and continued to play a more physical game in Game 2, leading 35-23 in hits at the end of forty minutes of play.
Corey Perry scored his 8th goal of the playoffs on what was yet another deflection on the night and tied the game 2-2 for the Ducks. Perry’s goal was assisted by Ryan Getzlaf and Sami Vatanen.
In total, three penalties were called in the 2nd period (one more than the 1st period), as the period came to a close with some 4 on 4 action. For the first time in the series, Anaheim led Chicago 26-19 in shots on goal. Both teams were 24-24 in faceoff wins at the end of two periods.
The third period saw some action, but neither team was able to score, sending the game into overtime. The first overtime witnessed some great chances early on from both the Ducks on Corey Crawford and the Blackhawks on Frederik Andersen, however fatigue soon set in around the ten-minute mark and both teams lost the rhythm of the game. Ducks fans, however were still loud and thumping as the clock struck midnight on the East Coast (alas, it was only 9:00 PM PT).
Anaheim couldn’t capitalize on a great opportunity when Crawford was down and a bit too far out of the crease- Simon Despres just couldn’t settle the puck enough on a backhand, empty net, opportunity. Andersen had 8 saves in the first overtime, while Crawford had 9 saves in the same time span. The shots on goal total at the end of the first overtime were 43-36 in favor of Anaheim. The Blackhawks continued to trail in hits, 58-38, and faceoff wins, 44-35.
Andrew Shaw thought he had scored about midway in double overtime, but the goal was waved off after review determined that he had head-butted the puck into the net- resulting in a direct, umm, heading motion that was not controlled by his stick, nor unintentional, hence it was an illegal goal. The second overtime then saw even more fatigue (although the fans were still loud and chanting “Let’s Go Ducks!”) and an ever increasingly tired writer, so I’m just going to skip to the third overtime, if you don’t mind.
Victor Decolongon/Getty Images
At 16:12 of triple overtime, Marcus Kruger scored on a bit of a floppy play and subsequently celebrated with the rest of the Chicago Blackhawks after winning the longest game in franchise history. In all, Anaheim led the night in hits with 71 compared to Chicago’s 45, faceoff wins (59-53), and blocked shots (35-29). For the second game in a row, the team that had fewer shots on goal won the game.
Blackhawks defenseman, Duncan Keith, led time on ice totals for the night, spending nearly fifty minutes (49:51 to be exact) skating around. Kruger’s game winning goal was assisted by Brent Seabrook and Johnny Oduya.
It is assumed that after some much needed rest, neither team will really feel up to practicing much before Game 3, understandably. Likewise, for the disappointed Anaheim fans that went home unsatisfied and beaten for the first time on home ice in the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs, a day off from work sounds pretty good right about now.
Statistically speaking, the team that wins Game 3 in any series is more likely to go on and win the entire series, so Ducks fans should be able to take comfort in knowing that it’s only a 1-1 series currently and there’s always Thursday night in Chicago to take back control. Likewise for the Blackhawks that means they’ll be looking to ride the momentum of this epic win.
Game 3 can be caught on NBCSN at 8 PM EST on Thursday, May 21st, 2015 live from the United Center in Chicago.
In front of a packed Honda Center the 2015 Western Conference Finals between the Anaheim Ducks and the Chicago Blackhawks got underway with Game 1 on Sunday afternoon. The Ducks beat the Blackhawks 4-1 as Frederik Andersen picked up the win in a 32 save performance. Chicago’s, Corey Crawford, was dealt the loss despite his 24 saves on 27 shots on goal. Anaheim’s Hampus Lindholm opened up the scoring in the series at 8:48 of the first period to give the Ducks a 1-0 lead, despite trailing in shots on goal for the entire period.
After a dominating first period without any results on the scoreboard to prove it, the Blackhawks had little to show in the second period for nineteen minutes of it. Anaheim continued to impress with their complete domination, a trend that they’ve held in their first nine Stanley Cup Playoff games played this year.
Kyle Palmieri put the Ducks up 2-0, with his first goal of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs, assisted by Nate Thompshon at 4:17 of the 2nd period. Anaheim would then go about ten minutes without another shot on goal.
After Corey Perry’s lone penalty for the Ducks in the first period, Chicago’s Niklas Hjalmarsson was sent to the box for tripping Jakub Silfverberg. Anaheim wasn’t able to capitalize on their first power play opportunity, despite recording two shots on goal in the duration of their man advantage.
At 19:20 of the 2nd period, Brad Richards stole the puck and fired home a wrist shot on Frederik Andersen, getting the Blackhawks on the board and trimming Anaheim’s lead in half. The score was then a close 2-1 game heading into intermission.
The third period saw more of the same. The Ducks were charging hard, while Andersen and a lack of puck luck kept denying the Blackhawks. Nate Thompson tacked on a goal for Anaheim to make it 3-1 with 7:55 remaining. Chicago pulled Crawford with about two minutes left in regulation, but the Ducks capitalized on a rare Jonathan Toews turnover that led to a Silfverberg empty net goal to make it 4-1.
With the win the Ducks improved to 6-0 at home during the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs while the Blackhawks fell to 3-3 on the road. Anaheim leads the series 1-0 and looks to remain unbeatable on home ice in Game 2 as Chicago looks to ruin the party and hand the Ducks their first loss on home ice. Game 2 is on Tuesday night at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California on NBCSN.
The wonderful, Connor Keith, has joined the Down the Frozen River family, and shares his talented writing, insight, and analysis for everyone to enjoy. This was written before final roster cuts were made, but the season kind of came along quickly and I kind of failed as an editor, posting things. But that shouldn’t make any of Connor’s analysis any less valuable! Enjoy.
Anaheim Ducks (54-20-8, won conference)
After yet another early exit from the playoffs (fifth time kicked out in first or second round of playoffs since winning the Cup in the 2006-’07 season), Henry Samueli & reigning NHL General Manager of the Year Bob Murray intend to build on last year’s strong regular season & once again be the team to beat in Los Angeles. Although they’ve made many additions to stake this claim, the Ducks will need to circumvent the retirement of Saku Koivu & Teemu Selanne & find new leadership in the locker room.
The only front office news to come out of Anaheim this season was the four-year contract extension signed by Murray in May. He made quick work of the expressed confidence from Samueli by signing two trades. On June 27, he agreed to terms with the Vancouver Canucks that Nick Bonino, Luca Sbisa, & two draft picks were to be sent up I-5 in return for Ryan Kesler & a pick in next year’s draft. Three days later, he sent two picks in next year’s draft to Tampa Bay in return for Nate Thompson.
One of the major question marks for the Ducks is their goaltending. Jonas Hiller (29-13-7), who played in 50 regular season games last season (22 more than Frederik Andersen) between the pipes, is now playing for Calgary. Andersen (20-5-0) played in 28 games for the Ducks last, the most of the remaining goalies on the Anaheim staff (also lost Viktor Fasth to a trade in March with the Edmonton Oilers). The Ducks have since signed Ryan Faragher (20-9-4-1, played at St. Cloud State) to an entry-level contract, who played seven more games than Andersen last season, but in college. Based on all of this, I would assume that Andersen will be starting in the crease.
The Ducks come into the season having lost two big names in Nick Bonino & Daniel Winnik (signed with Toronto).
They lost only two of the top seven players with most regular season games with the Ducks last season in Nick Bonino (77) & Daniel Winnik (76) both playing 75+ regular season games last year. Additionally, they lost only two of the top 10 players with the most playoff games with the Ducks last season in Nick Bonino & Saku Koivu both playing in all 13 games. The Ducks are adding players that can play most of a regular season, though, in Nate Thompson (81), Louis Leblanc (78, signed from Montreal), & Ryan Kesler (77) who all played 77+ games last season.
The Ducks are only losing one of their top four shot takers this year as Nick Bonino (159) joins Vancouver. He alone accounted for over 6% of the Ducks’ shots last regular season. Looking at only postseason numbers, two of the top five shot-takers are not returning, as Teemu Selanne (24) & Nick Bonino (22) are not returning. These shooters accounted for over 13% of the shots taken in the postseason.
Over 15% of last season’s goals will not show up to training camp this season as Nick Bonino (22) & Mathieu Perrault (18) are with other teams. The Ducks have added Nick Ritchie (39), Ryan Kesler (25), & Shea Theodore (22) to more than make up for the missing goals.
Three of the leading six assisters will not be with the Ducks this season as Nick Bonino (27), Mathieu Perrault (25, signed with Winnipeg), & Daniel Winnik (24) are not returning. To take their vacant spots, the Ducks have signed Shea Theodore (57, drafted last season), Kenton Helgesen (41, drafted last season), & Nick Ritchie (35, drafted this season). These new additions have the potential to greatly exceed the numbers of the players they are replacing based on their stats from last season in lower leagues & could have a strong influence on the already potent Anaheim offense.
Only one of the top five +/- guys in the regular season have been lost in Dustin Penner (22, traded to Washington in March). With him, the Ducks also lost two of the positive +/- players during the playoffs. Nick Bonino (3) & Daniel Winnik (1) were two of only five Ducks to post a number higher than zero for the 13 playoff games. To make up for these lost numbers, Anaheim has signed Kenton Helgesen (31). His regular season statistics greatly exceed Penner’s, albeit in a lower league, & Anaheim hopes that he continues his growth in the Honda Center.
The Ducks lost two of their top seven penalty minute earners in Saku Koivu (46) & Luca Sbisa (43). Sadly, the Ducks picked up Nick Ritchie (136), John Kurtz (112, played in Norfolk last two seasons), Clayton Stoner (84, signed from Minnesota), Ryan Kesler (81), Andrew O’Brien (74, drafted in 2012), Christopher Wagner (68, drafted in 2010), Louis Leblanc (67), Kenton Helgesen (67), Joseph Cramarossa (59, drafted in 2011), & Max Friberg (55, drafted in 2011). This is one of the main spots where Anaheim lost a lot of ground. The new players, especially the young guys, will need to refine their discipline from taking so many penalty minutes, or Anaheim’s defense will be too exhausted to get back to the dressing rooms between periods.
Present roster consists of 27 forwards, 15 defensemen, & six goalies (48 men).
James Neal started the scoring for Nashville 35 seconds into the first period and gave the Predators a 1-0 lead with some help from Ryan Johansen.
Nashville responded to Anaheim’s goal with a goal from Colin Wilson at 7:55 of the 2nd period, with help from Ryan Ellis (1) and Roman Josi (1) to tie the game, 2-2.
Down the Frozen River 
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