Anaheim Ducks Five Great Playoff Moments: The Heroes of Playoffs Past
The playoffs begin soon, just not for the Anaheim Ducks. In order to cope, we savor five great moments from the Ducks time in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Since today is Thursday, it’s appropriate that I do a “Throwback Thursday” to past playoff heroic performances that the Anaheim Ducks have given us, since we’re not going to be back again this year. This year hasn’t been the easiest of seasons to watch as a “M.D.A.” fan, but the last few weeks have been fun to watch.
I, along with others, believe that we will be back in the playoffs next year and that soon enough, we will hoist the Stanley Cup. For now, it’s time to rewind the clock and savor the top 5 Anaheim Ducks playoff moments and we start off at number 5 with an overtime thriller at the ‘Peg.
Anaheim Ducks Ground Winnipeg
The 2015 playoffs began for the Ducks against a resurgent franchise from the Winnipeg Jets who hadn’t been to the playoffs since the 90s. It was also an ode to the past as it was the two franchises most synonymous with Teemu Selanne meeting in the playoffs for the first time. Though the Jets were a formidable foe, the Ducks played the role of superheroes in the first two games at home.
First, the Ducks came from behind to win Game 1 when Corey Perry scored twice to give the Ducks a 3-2 lead late in the third period before El Capitan, Ryan Getzlaf, scored the insurance goal to clinch Game 1. Jakob Silfverberg played the role of hero in Game 2 to give the Ducks a two-game lead in the series heading to Winnipeg for Game 3.
Of course, Game 3 was electric as the Winnipeg Jets’ fan-base was loud, trying to rally their franchise to win their first playoff game in nearly decades. Right away, the Jets responded on the ice with an early goal to give the Jets a 1-0 lead. Cam Fowler tied the game at 1 late in the period and right then, everyone who watched the game was thinking one thing: “this was about to be good quick.”
The second period was an offensive explosion with five goals scored by both teams. It was a back and forth scoring barrage as Corey Perry gave the Ducks an early 2-1 lead, but that didn’t last as Tyler Myers and Blake Wheeler gave Winnipeg fans to raise the roof of MTS Centre, giving the Jets a three-two lead. Jakob Silfverberg re-tied the game late in the second, but Bryan Little provided the final punch in the second period to give the Jets a four-three lead. Heading into the intermission, it looked like the Jets were about to take off and knock the Ducks off for their first playoff win.
Things started to settle down goals wise, as neither side scored a goal for the majority of the third period, but our first hero in this throwback Thursday, came to the rescue and his name is Ryan Kesler. Set up by a pass from Jakob Silfverberg, Kesler scored from the backdoor position and tied the game yet again, deflating the hometown Jets fans, and setting up the first and only overtime game in this series.
It didn’t take long for the Ducks to emerge victorious as Rickard Rakell scored the game-winner by redirecting a shot from longtime Duck defenseman Francois Beauchemin and the Ducks stunned the Jets from behind to take three games to none lead. Eventually, the Ducks would beat the Jets in game 4 to sweep the Jets and move on to the second round.