Ducks return from mountains eager to douse Flames
The Anaheim Ducks made a smart decision Wednesday and Thursday.
After a tough loss in Tuesday’s Game 3 against the Calgary Flames that put their series at a 2-1 advantage for Anaheim, the group left for the mountains and spent a couple of days in Banff, Alberta.
They worked out and practiced in the beautiful confines of one of the most majestic places on earth, cleared the mechanism and now it’s back to work for Game 4 Friday night.
Said Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf via the Los Angeles Times:
"The city of Calgary is a tough city to be in when you're in a playoff run," he said. "That city really gets behind their team. There's a lot going on, whether it'd be at the hotel or around the hotel. Those kind of things. Sometimes it's nice to just step away and not have to deal with people yelling in your face, those kind of things when you're trying to walk down the street."
Also, life certainly doesn’t suck when you can look at images like this for a couple of days:
Was it too much coddling, or is this really what the Ducks need? Who knows. It took quite a bit of Flames magic for Calgary to get back into the series. This included most circumstances and calls (with the exception of one no-goal situation) falling the Flames’ way at the end of Game 3, a 4-3 Calgary OT conquest.
Anaheim has been the better team this series, with the exception of the last seven minutes of the last game and the overtime. But it’s the Flames, and no mortal fire extinguisher can fizzle their mojo (zing!).
Via the Calgary Sun:
“In my opinion, last game was as close to a must-win or do-or-die game for us as it gets. We found a way to win, and I think Game 4 is going to be the exact same way,” said Flames left-winger Brandon Bollig. “We can’t afford to lose on home ice. We have to even the series. We know that.”
Also, Calgary forward Johnny Gaudreau finally scored in Game 3, which so happened to be the game-tying-goal with 19.5 seconds left. This had to lift his confidence. If that’s the case, the Ducks will need to re-figure a way to stop the rookie dynamo.
Via Flames forward Joe Colborne on Gaudreau in the Calgary Sun:
“It’s not one of those advanced stats, but it’s one of the most important skills someone can have,” Colborne said. “It’s boding well to have guys who want to be in those situations and thrive in those situations.
Hey, so how about those advanced stats Joe! The Ducks have been better 5-on-5 per War on Ice, but isn’t that to be expected by now? Nice job by Colborne with the typical Flames rallying cry against analytics.
The Ducks slipped in Game 3. The Flames have life. And with the parity around most NHL teams these days, regardless of how we break them down to a science, that’s all a squad needs.
But it would take is one win by the Ducks, and Anaheim will have a commanding lead on the Flames. Sounds like typical playoff hockey to me.
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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
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