Blackhawks and Ducks try to recover fast for Game 5
And before the pivotal Game 5 Monday night contest in Anaheim, the teams rested. Well, more like recovered in regards to the Blackhawks and Ducks, who have so far played a bruising rough n’ tumble series.
On Sunday, after Chicago’s Game 4’s double-overtime victory, the Ducks received the simple instruction from coach Bruce Boudreau:
“I told them to get away from it today,” he said. “I said, Go home. Don’t sit on the couch or anything. Get some movement and exercise in. But have a good day with your families, not think about the game, then come back tomorrow refreshed, all excited to play Game 5 in front of our home fans.”
The Blackhawks also didn’t skate on their travel day back to Anaheim.
At the moment, this war of attrition hits the final stage, and both teams are trying to find some sort of edge.
For the Ducks, it may involve shaking off the sting of disappointment. A post here … if the puck moved an extra inch or two in another direction then maybe, just maybe Anaheim would be talking about punching a ticket to the Stanley Cup Final via a sweep, or discussing eliminating Chicago this Memorial Day. Instead, here they are going into a pivotal Game 5 against the Hawk tied at 2-2.
“We’re just going to keep with our game plan,” forward Ryan Kesler said. “I think it will wear them down. It’s going to wear them down. No human can withstand that many hits. We’re going to keep banging out there and going after them.”
The law of hockey averages states that Anaheim’s bruising style this should, and would, eventually slow the Blackhawks. But Chicago is not your typical playoff team.
They have that sort of strange playoff survivor gene where they can simply just find ways to win, in spite of essentially playing with four defensemen, and Anaheim targeting them almost every shift. The Blackhawks are 14-0 in Games 5 and 6 in the Kane/Toews era when the series is locked at 2-2.
“They’re a good hockey team. Absolutely it’s a good team we’re playing,” Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. “They play hard. These games, they’re long games, they’re hard games, even if it goes 60. At the same time we feel we have to get better in series to progress, to go through it. So I think one thing is we find a way to get better each and every game.”
Though Anaheim has been close to grabbing a more commanding lead – or even ending the series outright at this point – Chicago’s CF% has been greater than 50 percent in all but Game 2 per War on Ice.
“We feel good for it to be tied,” Chicago forward Bryan Bickell said. “We just need to bypass the first three periods and just play OT it seems like (laughter).
“No, you know, you look back last game, we’re up 3-1, they scored three goals in 37 seconds. It’s mental mistakes or big shifts in crucial moments. I thought the last game was a big step to find the back of the net against Andersen. You see that he is kind of human because he’s been standing on his head as of late. Take some goods and bads off of the last game and feed off it.”
So really, who has been the better team? Judging by the eyeball test due to physicality and missed chances, that would appear to be Anaheim. But in the playoffs, it’s just about wins, and Chicago just finds ways. Can the Hawks do it again in Game 5 on the road? Don’t be against them.
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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
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