The Chicago Blackhawks will join the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup final after defeating the Anaheim Ducks 5-3 in Game 7 of the Western Conference final.
It is the third time in six years that the Blackhawks have reached the final. They went on to hoist the Stanley Cup in 2010 and 2013.
While earlier games in the best-of-seven series had been characterized by close games that often went into overtime, Saturday’s winner-take-all finale was never really a nail-biter.
“We really had to earn every bit of success we got,” Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews told NBC. “And I think tonight we had to be at our best game and it definitely was.”
The Ducks added some intrigue in the third period when they twice pulled within two goals, but the Blackhawks were able to ride out the win.
Chicago couldn’t have asked for a better start to a Game 7 on the road. The Ducks weren’t able to get the matchups they wanted and the Blackhawks’ star players made them pay for their mistakes.
Toews gave the Blackhawks the lead after just two minutes, 23 seconds when he was left completely alone in front to pick up a rebound from Ducks goaltender Frederik Andersen.
The last time the two teams met at the Honda Center, in Game 5, Toews scored two goals in the last two minutes of regulation in a game the Blackhawks would eventually lose in overtime.
The Blackhawks captain continued right where he left off when he doubled the lead with a power play goal midway through the period. This time Andersen was screened by Andrew Shaw and couldn’t get his glove up in time to stop the shot.
“It’s unbelievable,” Brandon Saad said about playing with Toews. “I’ve been fortunate to play with him for a few years now and just to learn from him and see the things he does on the ice. He’s a huge part of our team.”
It was a disappointing start for Anaheim who were knocked out in a Game 7 on home ice for the second year in a row. Leading up to the game, Boudreau challenged his team by telling reporters that season’s players were “nervous Nellies” in last year’s elimination game against the Los Angeles Kings, which they ended up losing 6-2.
Prior to Saturday, the Ducks led all teams in scoring in the playoffs with 3.60 goals per game, but just like the New York Rangers on Friday night, the team’s normally potent offense chose the worst time to go cold.
Ryan Getzlaf, who told reporters Wednesday his performance in Game 6 was “terrible”, didn’t have a much better Game 7. He posted a minus-1, including failing to cover Toews on the opening goal and making the costly turnover that led to Saad’s 3-0 goal.
Anaheim made a push during the second period and opened up an 18-11 shot advantage at the halfway point, but this also gave Chicago plenty of odd-man rush opportunities.
After the Ducks had one of their best sequences of the game with a couple of scoring chances, the Blackhawks put the game further out of reach with a controversial goal. Andersen stopped Brad Richards’ shot on the fifth odd-man rush of the period, but couldn’t turn away Marian Hossa on the rebound. The goal was reviewed because it hit the skate of Hossa but the referees allowed it after ruling there was no deliberate kicking motion.
Ryan Kesler gave the Ducks a glimmer of hope when he scored from the goal line during a 4-on-4. However, Chicago took a 4-1 lead into the second intermission along with a perfect 31-0-0 record when leading after two periods so far in the season.
The Blackhawks didn’t let Corey Perry’s goal midway through the third rattle them, and they came back and scored a power play goal immediately after. Matt Beleskey made it another two-goal game, but with 42 seconds left it was too little too late for the home team.
Although the conference finals is the best result the Ducks have had under Boudreau’s tenure, it was yet another season where regular-season success didn’t translate to Stanley Cup triumph. To add insult to injury, Anaheim didn’t lose a single playoff game in regulation until Games 6 and 7 against Chicago.
The Blackhawks, on the other hand, will prepare for the Lightning and a chance at their third championship under head coach Joel Quenneville. The two teams met twice in the regular season. Chicago won 3-2 at home in a shootout in November while Tampa shut out the Blackhawks 4-0 on their home ice in February. Game 1 of the championship round is Wednesday in Tampa Bay.
“Another great test,” Toews said. “We’re going to remember the games we had against them this regular season. It’s going to be a tough one, but we’ll be ready for them.”
