Ducks revert to old, ineffective form, and another Game 7 loss is the result
Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf skates off in defeat as the Predators swarm to the ice in a 2-1 win in Game 7.
Given a chance to exorcise their Game 7 demons, the Ducks instead allowed those demons to exorcise them right out of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Again.
It’s almost too bizarre to be true, but the Ducks’ 2-1 loss to the Nashville Predators on Wednesday meant that their last four playoff appearances have ended with a Game 7 loss at Honda Center in a series they had led 3-2. After overcoming a terrible start to the season and winning the Pacific Division title on the last day of the regular season, they seemed to carry that resilience into the postseason by winning three straight games against the Predators after losing the first two. But the Ducks reverted to their old, ineffective form in Games 6 and 7, unable to close the deal.
“It’s awful. It never gets any easier,” defenseman Cam Fowler said. “We certainly left it all out there, though. We played hard. We played to win. Unfortunately, the bounces didn’t go our way but it’s not like the previous years, when there was more left to be desired. I’m proud of the guys, the way we fought. It just didn’t go our way tonight.”
That they played well and gave everything they had was little consolation to winger Andrew Cogliano. “Well, we lost, so it feels the same,” he said. “But I thought we dominated them throughout the game. I don’t think they had any really good looks. We hit a couple posts. … This was probably one of our best games in the series but it wasn’t meant to be. I don’t know what it is. I can’t explain it.”
Next comes the postmortem, and it shouldn’t spare anyone.
Not right wing Corey Perry, who led the team with 34 goals during the season but didn’t score against Nashville, was minus-7 defensively and was mostly invisible except when he took needless penalties or, as on the Predators’ second goal Wednesday, turned the puck over.
Not Coach Bruce Boudreau, who is 1-7 behind the bench in Game 7s. Is he nervous when he should be calm? Too quick to change goaltenders or line combinations, or not quick enough to reunite Perry and Ryan Getzlaf, who were split up most of the season and not put back together until the late stages of Game 6 and again in Game 7?
General Manager Bob Murray changed the mix last summer in a search for speed and depth. When some of his moves didn’t work and the team was adrift, he adjusted on the fly and the Ducks had an impressive post-Christmas run.
But what they thought would be a marathon turned into a sprint, and that’s becoming all too familiar. Goaltender Frederik Andersen, who acquitted himself well after getting the starting job in Game 3, sat in the locker room with a towel over his head. He will be a restricted free agent and might not be back. Perry, who was the last player off the ice, clutched a towel and looked forlorn.
“Unfortunately, we’re labeled as a group right now that can’t close in Game 7,” Fowler said. “I’m just as big a part of that as anyone else. It’s certainly not fun and not the title you want to have in this league.
“I try not to look at it big-picture so much. Those years are behind us. We focused on this year with a great group of guys and I just feel for them right now.”
Individual reputations are forged in games like this, and teams are defined as winners or losers. Nashville forward Colin Wilson defined himself as a clutch performer, as did goalie Pekka Rinne and defensemen Roman Josi and Shea Weber.
The Predators, playing their first Game 7, staked a reputation as a rising power in the NHL. They earned their trip to the second round, where they’ll face the San Jose Sharks.
The Ducks defined themselves as not determined enough to prevent history from repeating itself. Their existence and original name were inspired by Disney’s “Mighty Ducks” movie.
The movie that sums them up now is “Groundhog Day,” in which Bill Murray’s character is doomed to live the same day over and over again. A Game 7 home loss is the Ducks’ Groundhog Day.
“I had a different feeling this year. I thought we could go for a deep run and I really like the way this group plays the game, and everyone in the organization,” left wing David Perron said. “It’s tough right now.”
helene.elliott@latimes.com
Twitter: @helenenothelen
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