Anaheim Ducks: Top 5 Goals in the Stanley Cup Finals
The Anaheim Ducks’ two appearances in the Stanley Cup Finals were incredible moments. Many goals were scored, but these are among the best.
The way the 2019-20 season ended for the Anaheim Ducks was very abrupt. After their final game, a 2-4 loss against the St. Louis Blues, no one knew when, how, or even if the season would resume. But, here we are, with the league ready to jump into the playoffs, and the Anaheim Ducks are on the outside, once again. With our team not in the playoffs, it has been rough to find content worth writing about.
However, as Hans so simply states in the movies, sometimes, going back to the basics is the best way to start. So, in taking his advice, I’m going to give the fans something cheerful to reminisce about. Over the next few weeks, in a multi-part series, we’re going to take a look back at some of the Anaheim Ducks Top 5 throughout their 26 years as a franchise: Top 5 Stanley Cup Final goals, Top 5 Stanley Cup Playoff Games, Top 5 Players, and more.
So, without further ado, our series begins with the top 5 goals from the Stanley Cup Finals in both 2003 and 2007. We’ll begin the list with an unusual hero.
5. The Anaheim Ducks First Stanley Cup Final Goal
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been watching highlights from the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals, and while there is one goal on the list that will be remembered for all time, most people don’t remember who scored the first-ever goal in the Stanley Cup Final for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
If you looked down the roster, one would go with the captain, Paul Kariya, or maybe someone like Steve Rucchin. But no, the correct answer is none other than Marc Chouinard. Marc Chouinard played for the Anaheim Mighty Ducks for three years, and in Game 3 of the SCF, against the New Jersey Devils, his name was put in the Anaheim Ducks history books, scoring the first goal in the SCF for the Mighty Ducks.
Redirecting a deflected shot by Sandis Ozolinsh, one of the veteran defenseman on the ’03 Cup Final team, this is the goal that finally got the Mighty Ducks on the board. In a vial game, the Mighty Ducks had to win this game to stay alive in the series.
It was also a momentum boost, as the Ducks were shut out in New Jersey in the first two games. Though it would be the only goal, and point, in the series that he would score, Chouinard, should be given the credit due for being the one that broke the Devils’ curse on the team, which is why his goals earns him the number five spot on this list.
4. D3: 2007 Style
The Viking. That was the nickname that Samuel Pahlsson was given while on the Mighty Ducks roster. Pahlsson was on the 2003 team that went to the Stanley Cup finals. He was also on the ’07 team that returned to the Finals, this time as the powerhouse.
The 07 team was a team built on bullying the opposition and driving towards the net. Their style of play rose to the occasion multiple times in the ‘07 cup run, but in Game 2 of the Finals, the Anaheim Ducks played what I would call D3 style of hockey.
No, I don’t mean like division 3 style of hockey, but I’m referring to D3 as in the final movie to the Mighty Ducks trilogy, in which their coach, Ted Orion, was talking about shutout hockey. Well, in Game 2, the Ducks were playing that style of hockey and it looked like it would be going to overtime, but once again, the Viking rose to the occasion, set up by Rob Niedermayer and Travis Moen, broke the scoreless tie, and eventually gave the Ducks a 1-0 victory.
The reason why I mention him in my top 5 is that he played a role in the 2003 cup run, scoring twice and totaling six points during that cup run. Well, in the 2007 cup run, he had 3 goals and 12 points overall. He scored once in the Western Conference Semi-Finals against the Canucks in Game 5, as well as the clinching game against the Detroit Red Wings in Game 6. While both goals were key in their run, the game-winner against Ottawa in Game 2, particularly with overtime looming, Pahlsson scored the game-winner, giving the Ducks a 2-0 series lead, and netting him the #4 spot on this list.
3. Working Overtime, Part 1
The 2003 Anaheim Mighty Ducks were the underdog that everyone wanted to root for. They were a team that captivated people’s imagination, and the way they played, it wasn’t a one-man band, it was a collective team effort.
Another thing that the Mighty Ducks team was known for was working overtime, literally, overtime. In the 2003 Cup run, the Ducks were a part of 5 overtime games in the 3 previous rounds, 2 games against the defending Cup champions (Paul Kariya and Steve Rucchin-series-winning goal.) Another 2 against the Dallas Stars, the top seed in the West (Petr Sykora and Mike Leclerc), and another overtime game against the Minnesota Wild in the Western Conference Finals, once again, Petr Sykora, the flair for the dramatic (another 1-0 win).
With the way the team was rolling, the Anaheim Ducks were given a dose of reality when they headed into New Jersey. They got shutout three to nothing twice, falling behind two games to none, heading back to the Pond. Game 3 was a do-or-die type game, a loss and it would be season over, and the Ducks would be one game away from being swept. A win and the dream of winning the Stanley Cup would be kept alive.
Game 3 was a back and forth tussle after Chouinard scored the game’s first goal, Sandis Ozolinsh broke a 1-1 tie with the infamous Martin Brodeur gaffe to give the Ducks the lead back. After the Devils tied the game in the third period, the game eventually went into overtime. Everyone was on pins and needles.
The Devils and their fanbase was ready to begin nailing the coffin shut with an overtime win. The Ducks and their fanbase was hoping that a hero would rise to the occasion. Thankfully, the latter beat the former, as Adam Oates, a veteran center, won the faceoff and the late Ruslan Salei scored the overtime winner, giving the Ducks life in the series.
For Salei, it would be only his 2nd goal of the series, but as Gary Thorne from ABC said it best, “Salei, Overtime Game Winner, The Ducks are back in it!!” Though the Ducks fought hard to get back into the series, what they didn’t know was that two days later, they would be back at it again.
2. Working Overtime, Pt. 2
While Ruslan Salei gets the #3 spot on the top 5 SCF goals list, another hero rose to the occasion to net a spot in the ‘03 cup run: Steve Thomas. Steve Thomas was a nineteen-year veteran, who never got a chance to play in the Stanley Cup Finals. That all changed in ’03 when he got traded from the Blackhawks to the Anaheim Ducks and was a big part of the journey.
He scored the game-winner in Game 2 against the Detroit Red Wings, to give the Ducks a 2-0 lead. He then scored another goal, this time against the Stars, to help the Ducks advance to the Western Conference Final.
After not scoring a goal in the WCF against the Minnesota Wild, Thomas scored twice against the Devils, but it was his overtime game-winner in Game 4 that really shook up the Finals. Like in ’07 where the Ducks won one to nothing, playing shutout hockey, the Mighty Ducks in ’03 played that style of hockey to get back in the series.
The main difference was, unlike in Game 3 where it took close to 7 minutes to get the game-winner, Thomas struck within a half-minute into overtime. After Stanislav Chistov and Sandis Ozolinsh were denied by Brodeur, Steve Thomas buried the rebound to tie the series, sending the fans at the Pond into pandemonium.
Not only was it his first goal in the Finals, but it tied the series and placed him second on my top 5 list. It also set up what most, if not all MDA fans would say, as THE goal in SCF history for the Ducks.
5. The Captain Has Returned…
Of all the goals that have been scored in Anaheim Ducks 26-year history, there is only one goal that most fans will remember as the goal. It wasn’t because of the skill, it wasn’t because of the talent, but it was because of the adversity that came before it, and the resiliency that came after it.
New fans may not be familiar with the goal, but to the OG MDA fans, we know there is one goal that if we see it, shivers run down our spine, we get emotional, we stand a bit taller and we pump our fists in jubilation when we see it. Of course, I’m talking about the one, and only, Captain Paul Kariya.
After 2 overtime heroic victories, the Ducks were hexed by the Devils in New Jersey. Now returning to Anaheim for Game 6, the Mighty Ducks would have to rely on everything they learned to keep their hopes alive. They got off to a good start, as Steve Rucchin scored twice and Steve Thomas netted his fourth goal of the playoffs, putting the Devils on notice that they would not go quietly.
The Devils got on the board, cutting the deficit to two goals, momentarily quieting the crowd. Then early midway through the second period, it happened. Paul Kariya, the Mighty Ducks captain was silenced into submission by Scott Stevens, the baddest, hit-squad defenseman from the New Jersey Devils.
More from All-Time Lists
- Anaheim Ducks: The Franchise All-Time Bracket Matchup
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- Anaheim Ducks: 25th Anniversary All-Decade Teams, The 2010’s
- Anaheim Ducks: The All-Time Top 5 Defencemen in Franchise History
- Anaheim Ducks: 25th Anniversary All-Decade Teams, The 2000’s
Scott Stevens used to reign terror, as he knocked out Ron Francis, Eric Lindros, and others before Kariya. What made it look worse was Kariya had concussion history, and he was lying motionless on the ice. Though he eventually got back up, everyone thought he was done for the series, and maybe his career was finished. What no one could’ve foreseen was a moment in time that every Mighty Ducks of Anaheim fan will never forget.
With about 10 minutes remaining in the second period, the crowd roared in unison, as Paul Kariya came back into the game. Suddenly, hope rose amongst his teammates and amongst the fans. Kariya was the guy who’s stickhandling skills were among the elite. He was known for scoring in creative ways. However, creativity went out the window, when, with two minutes remaining in the second period, Petr Sykora, the Mighty Ducks right-winger, passed the puck to Kariya.
Kariya was just inside the Devils’ blue line when he launched a howitzer, a rocket, a missile, a statement. His slap-shot goal lifted the roof off the Pond, as Gary Thorne uttered eight of the most indelible words of SCF history “Off the Floor, On the Boards, Paul Kariya!!!”
Even though the team didn’t win the Cup, that is the moment in time that MDA fans will always remember. I became a fan because of them. I think most, if not all, MDA fans will agree that this would be THE #1 goal in MDA SCF history.
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