Great things happen when the Anaheim Ducks play their game. That's precisely what happened in game 5 of their opening round series against the Dallas Stars.
The Ducks, led by captain Ryan Getzlaf's three points, four power play goals and a renewed focus on playing their own game routed the Stars 6-2 to grab a 3-2 series lead heading back to Dallas for game 6 on Sunday
Getzlaf missed game four with an upper-b0dy injury, but had a goal and two assists in his return to the lineup. His clutch performance allowed him to pass Teemu Selanne for the clubs all-time franchise playoffs points lead with 66. When his team needed him most he responded in a big way.
"It's about maintaining our focus," Getzlaf said. "When we got to Dallas last time, we got a little revved up and got into some things that weren't part of our game. Tonight, we did a better job of focusing on what we need to do."
You can say that again. Even Corey Perry bought in to what Getzy was selling. Perry, who had a poor game 4, also had a goal and two assists in the win.
The Ducks chased Dallas goaltender Kari Lehtonen after he gave up five goals on just 21 shots. Tim Thomas replaced him.
Anaheim looked like a different team from the one that limped out of Dallas after two straight losses. To me, they looked like they played the perfect road game...take it to their opponent, be aggressive and let the other team get frustrated and make the mental mistakes.
The Stars frustration culminated in the Ducks scoring on four of their six power play opportunities. Dallas forward Ryan Garbutt received a game misconduct for spearing Perry on his way to the bench. Perry laid on the ice in pain for a few moments, but recovered enough to have a heck of a game.
Garbutt is turning out to be quite a pain in the butt. First Stephane Robidas's leg and now Perry's groin. Anaheim player's need to be aware when this guy is on the ice for their own safety.
The power play came up huge....something we couldn't say often this season. The Ducks didn't do anything fancy at all. They just played good heads-up hockey and willed their way to goals. From catching the Stars on a bad change to Perry's power move around an inflated Tim Thomas. Anaheim did what they had to to win the game.
Six different Ducks scored last night, including Rickard Rakell, Nick Bonino, Mathieu Perreault and Jakob Silfverberg. Freddie Andersen bounced back. He made 34 saves in the victory after getting the hook in game four.
Now the series goes back to Dallas for game 6. The Ducks played two bad games there already and a third would be disastrous. They manged to score just twice in two games and were shut out in game three. Anaheim went back to Detroit leading the series 3-2 last season and proceeded to lose the next two games. This series is following a similar script to last springs seven game series loss to the Red Wings. I don't want to relieve that nightmare again. How will the story end this spring?
The home team has won every game in this series, but I think if Anaheim can play with the same fire they did in game five they'll have a great shot of wrapping this series up n the road in six games. As banged up as the Ducks are, a little rest would do them a world of good.
Thanks for reading!