It's easy to point out all the "what if's" when talking about the Anaheim Ducks and their untimely first round exit from the Stanley Cup Playoffs. But, reality is this team didn't deserve to beat a much hungrier Detroit Red Wings teams.
I didn't like this match-up from the outset and the Wings did everything in their power to support my feelings.
First of all, hats off to the entire Wings organization. Just when everybody wanted to write them off as dead and buried they emerged like a zombie reeking havoc on a sleepy town in rural Michigan. They took the game to the Ducks and made Anaheim have to work for every chance in this series.
This team sort of reminds me of the Kings last season. Nobody saw them coming until it was too late.
As far as the Ducks are concerned, anytime a team needs to rely on multi-goal third period rally's just to seem competitive that team is in serious trouble. The longer the series went the more trouble the Ducks were going to find themselves in. They lived and died this season by finding ways to come back and win games. Sometimes all you can do is just not enough.
- The series featured four overtime games with the Ducks coming out on the winning end only once. Anaheim had to rally in three of the four games just to force the extra period. In the Ducks lone OT win they allowed the Wings to come back on them.
- Special teams were critical and they failed Anaheim when they needed them most. Anaheim had five power play goals and one shorthanded goal in the first three game, but managed just two goals with the man advantage over the final four. AND a Justin Abdelkader shorty in Gm. 7 was the straw that finally broke Anaheim's back.
- The Ducks allowed the first goal in games 5, 6 & 7. That is just unacceptable.
- Teemu Selanne didn't score a goal in the series' final six games and Corey Perry, the former 50-goal scorer and NHL MVP, failed to put a single one of his 24 shots past Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard. Which led me and others around the NHL to wonder....
- Detroit's stars made an appearance when they were needed the most. Henrik Zetterberg was held without a goal through the first five game, but with his team facing elimination he came alive. He scored three goals in the final two games of the series, including the OT winner in Gm. 6.
- Jonas Hiller was good for the most part, but I wish Fasth would of had a chance in the series. It would have been nice to see him rewarded for his efforts during the regular season.
- Finally, failing to close out the series the residents of OC and LA were guaranteed another year without the Ducks and Kings facing each other in the playoffs. That's a real shame too. It would have been fantastic for local hockey and would have pushed the rivalry over the top in intensity. Oh well, maybe next year when the Wings are back in the East.
Where do the Ducks go from here and will Teemu be back? Unfortunately he'll have more time this summer than I anticipated to make that decision.
Follow me on Twitter! @StevePalumboTHW
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