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Round 3 Game #2
Anaheim Ducks vs Nashville Predators
Sunday, May 14th, 4:30 PM PDT
Honda Center
TV: NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports
Radio: KSPN 710, AnaheimDucks.com
Your Enemy: On The Forecheck
Despite yet another slow start, and an eventual OT loss, the Ducks looked far better in game 1 than I expected they would. With the national media seemingly only focused on the empty seats, the Ducks played a solid game overall.
Looking ahead to game 2, I’d say it would be a must win game for any other team in this scenario but losing the first two games at home hasn’t seemed to be an issue for the Ducks over the years. The Ducks penalty kill came into the Western Conference finals with a measly 69% over a playoff leading 55 opportunities. Nashville had 5 chances including a long 2 man advantage but came up empty every time. If the Ducks can keep this up, it might be enough to extinguish Nashville’s red hot scoring defense corp.
The Anaheim players have been vocal about the need for a good start. "To start the game, it didn't feel like the conference finals, to be honest," said Andrew Cogliano. I really don’t think this was a shot at the fans, especially coming from Cogliano, but more of how they felt as a team coming out. Maybe fatigue from less than 48 hours of rest between series was a factor? Cam Fowler: "Starts in the playoffs are huge, It gave them a lot of momentum and sucked the life out of us, so we need to make sure that we turn that around [in Game 2]." Will the Ducks be able to even up the series, or will they lose their first two at home yet again?