Another Game 7, another loss for the Anaheim Ducks.
On Wednesday night in Anaheim, the visiting Nashville Predators delivered the final knock out to the Ducks in a 2-1 win that sent the Preds on to the second round where they will face the San Jose Sharks.
“It’s a big step,” Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. “I feel that if you can’t take this one step, you can’t take any more steps. That makes it a really big win for our guys and for our team. When you’re faced with these situations, you’re either going home or going on and playing hockey to continue to fight for the Cup. It was a big night.”
Colin Wilson and Paul Gaustad scored in the opening frame and Pekka Rinne made them stand up with 36 saves for the win.
For the Ducks, time just ran out on them. Their push to get out of the basement in November and the final week of the season to clinch the Pacific Division left them drained.
“With the way the score was, and the way we were pushing, I’d say yes,” coach Bruce Boudreau said. “Especially with how hard we had to push from November on just to get to where we were. We did everything the hard way. We thought, in the third period, we still believed we were going to tie it up. It just wasn’t meant to be.”
It was Rinne who closed the door on the Ducks’ season as he made 25 saves over the last two periods.
“I thought we dominated them,” Ducks forward Andrew Cogliano said. “I didn’t think they had any good looks, and we hit a couple posts. We had some power plays. This was probably one of our best games of the series, but it wasn’t meant to be. I don’t know what it is. I can’t explain it. We can’t get a bounce, it seems, to start off these games, and they end up killing us.”
Ryan Kesler scored a power play goal with less than two minutes gone in the third period but Rinne was solid and got support from his defense the rest of the way.
“He was really good,” Laviolette said of Rinne. “If you think that you need four wins to get out, and if you think about the four wins, you could consider him one of the best players on the ice. He was outstanding. He looked solid to me. He looked from the start tonight that he was right on top of his game.”
Frederik Andersen took the loss on 18 saves.
“It’s certainly not fun, and it’s not the title you want to have in this league,” Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler said. “I’m trying not to look at it big-picture so much. Those years are behind us. We were focused on this year with a great group of guys. I just feel for them right now.”
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