Anaheim Ducks Tales: The 2009 playoff fight with San Jose

The Anaheim Ducks are in a fight for their playoff lives after dropping game one of their first-round playoff series without even scoring a single goal. This isn’t the first postseason fight between these intrastate foes. There was a classic bout in their first postseason meeting in 2009.

The Season

In the 2008-09 season, there were still six divisions in the NHL. And playoff match-ups were determined by team standings within each conference. The Sharks won the President’s Trophy for having the best record in the regular season. San Jose also ran away with the Pacific Division crown, amassing 117 points.

The Anaheim Ducks, on the other hand, barely qualified for the playoffs. They earned only 91 points, narrowly beating out Minnesota for the final Western Conference berth. They worked hard just to be there. On March 15, the Ducks had played 69 games and had only 70 points. They amassed 22 of a possible 26 points in their last 13 games to miraculously squeak into the postseason. They were clear underdogs in this match-up.

The Series

The Ducks served notice in game one at San Jose. They shut out the Sharks, scoring only two third period goals. Game two was a little closer, though the Ducks still prevailed 3-2.

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Back at Honda Center for game three, the Sharks won 4-3 on a late power play goal by Patrick Marleau. The games were getting rough. Even George Parros was making significant contributions on the ice. Game four was a 4-0 blowout that sent the series back to San Jose with the Ducks up 3-1 in the series.

The Anaheim Ducks pushed game five to overtime with two third period goals. But Marleau again foiled the Ducks with the overtime game-winner.

Game 6

The tension was palpable in Honda Center before game six. San Jose had a long-earned reputation of choking in the playoffs, and the fans could feel it. If you were there, you might even remember fans passing out illustrations of the Sharks choking on that stick their mascot is always biting. Building on the back story, Ducks fans were still nervous. This Ducks team was playing over its head. And they were tired from a late-season push. Could they close this series out tonight?

The Fight

The tension had begun to boil over and the opening face-off was going to start to release that tension. Ryan Getzlaf was not yet the clear leader of this Ducks team. Joe Thornton established himself as the leader of the Sharks but wasn’t known for fisticuffs. He had only two fights the entire 2008-09 season. Getzlaf was a little more experienced with his gloves off, although he had only dropped the gloves three times that season.

As the puck was dropped to start the game, both sets of wingers were jousting. You knew it was on right then and there. Getzlaf pushed the draw forward and immediately dropped his equipment. He went right after Thornton, knocking his helmet off. Getzlaf then landed a big right hand before Thornton got him off balance and started throwing short left jabs. Eventually, Thornton wrestled Getzlaf to the ice.

By all accounts, Thornton won the fight. That didn’t matter. Getzlaf served notice that this was the Ducks’ game. The fight between two of the highest skilled players in the game at the time whipped the crowd at Honda Center into a frenzy. The Sharks would be hard-pressed to mount a comeback.

After the Final Bell

Although Milan Michalek of the Sharks scored the opening goal midway through the first period, Corey Perry answered back just two minutes later. Teemu Selanne and Francois Beauchemin scored in the second, and the game was never in doubt after that.

The rest of the game was nasty, as San Jose and Anaheim kept fighting and taking cheap shots at each other. That was just fine with the big bad Ducks. They won 4-1 that night and vanquished the league-best Sharks in the first round. The Ducks made sure the Sharks wouldn’t get what Anaheim already had: A Stanley Cup championship.

Next: Four things the Ducks must address now.

This was only the first postseason meeting between these two California teams, and they haven’t met since. That is, they hadn’t met again until this season. We can only hope for another spectacular series between these two rivals. Maybe Getzlaf and Thornton can drop ’em again for old time’s sake.