The question seemed simple, wondering how Ondrej Kase had managed to maintain his belief in himself while he was shuttling back and forth between the American Hockey League and the Ducks, but the Czech-born forward was puzzled by one unfamiliar word.

“I don’t know what is ‘confidence.’ What is ‘confidence’?” he said.

Confidence is self-assurance, he was told. Thinking you can get the job done before you finally get results, as Kase did Sunday in scoring his first NHL playoff goal. “Oh,” he said, his mystified expression dissolving as he stored that information away in his memory.

Kase’s English education has been a slow process, but his on-ice education has gone rapidly enough for him to be another offensive weapon for the Ducks. Overcoming yet another slow start, they charged back and rode his game-tying goal and Nick Ritchie’s go-ahead goal to a 5-3 victory over the Nashville Predators that tied the Western Conference finals at one game each.


“I think he’s played an unbelievable season so far. I think he’s been doing exactly what we need,” defenseman Sami Vatanen said of his teammate, whose name is pronounced KAW-shah. “He’s skating the puck and making some plays and it helps the team a lot.”

Kase, chosen by the Ducks in the seventh round, 205th overall, in the 2014 draft, became the 16th Ducks player to score a goal in this playoff run. That’s one more goal scorer than can be claimed by the Predators, who have been praised — and rightfully so — for their balanced scoring. And it was the fourth time the Ducks have erased a multi-goal deficit in these playoffs, something that used to be a rarity but has almost been patented by this slow-starting but fast-finishing group. “We don’t have a good start but I think it is a strong team,” Kase said.

The 21-year-old made it a stronger team Sunday, and again it was because coach Randy Carlyle adjusted his lines the right ways and at the right time.

Carlyle had put Kase on the right side with Rickard Rakell and center Nate Thompson in the first period, but by the second period Carlyle had switched things around to put Kase with Ritchie and Ryan Getzlaf. Corey Perry moved alongside Thompson and Rakell. Carlyle was hoping Kase was ready for first-line responsibilities alongside playmaker Getzlaf and the big-bodied Ritchie. The move was welcomed by Kase, who had missed the fifth and sixth games of the Ducks’ second-round series against Edmonton because of a lower-body injury and hadn’t scored a point in the following two games.


“We play a couple games together. I think five, six games,” Kase said. “I like that. We were losing 2-0 and he wants some changing.”

Soon enough, the game changed in the Ducks’ favor and Kase was in the middle of it. “With Kase, I think it’s more of an understanding that there’s certain things that you can do in the American Hockey League that you can’t do in the NHL. There’s certain things you can do in playoff time or non-playoff time versus playoff time,” Carlyle said.

“But the one thing that’s been consistent with him, he’s been a type of Energizer bunny, can play with pace, can make plays in small areas, can create space for himself, and he’s not afraid to go into those areas. So we think that moving him up and down in our lineup gives us some flexibility, because he’s a fearless player for his size. And he goes into the areas and can make plays with good players.”

1 / 13 Ducks forward Nick Ritchie checks Predators defenseman Roman Josi during the first period. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 13 Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf is checked into the glass by Predators center Mike Fisher during first-period action. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 13 Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf celebrates in front of the Predators bench after assisting on a late empty-net goal to seal a 5-3 win. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 13 Ducks goalie John Gibson is surrounded by teammates as he guards the net during a late push by the Predators. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 13 Ducks goalie John Gibson dives to block the shot of Predators center Mike Fisher during the second period. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 6 / 13 Ducks forward Nick Ritchie, left, celebrates after scoring a second-period goal with teammate Ryan Getzlaf (15). (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 13 Ducks coach Randy Carlyle watches, along with his team, a replay of a goal scored by forward Nick Ritchie in the second period. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 13 Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf argures an offisdes call with linesman Shane Heyer during the second period. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 9 / 13 Predators defenseman Matt Irwin and goalie Prekka Rinne can’t stop a shot by Ducks forward Ondrej Kase (not pictured) from crossing the goal line in the second period. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 10 / 13 Teammates and fans join in the celebration after Ducks forward Ondrej Kase (86) scores a game-tying goal against the Predators during the second period. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 11 / 13 Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf controls the puck as teammate Corey Perry slips to the ice during the first period. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 12 / 13 Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf celebrates with teammate Sami Vatanen after the defenseman scored a a goal in the first period. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 13 / 13 Predators defenseman Yannick Weber is upended by Ducks center Nate Thompson during the first period. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)


That’s what Kase did on his goal. Shea Theodore’s long shot bounced in front of Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne, and Kase reached out to swat it on net. It trickled past Rinne and crawled over the goal line at 10:41 of the second period and evened the score at 3-3.

“I was happy that it was a goal,” said Kase, whose joy was shared by a sellout crowd at Honda Center and by Getzlaf, who enjoys seeing Kase making progress.

“Growth is a good word for it. I think he’s learning on the go here. And he’s playing a lot better every game,” Getzlaf said. “He’s earning his ice time for sure. Nothing is given to him on this team. ... We need guys to step up and play. And Kase has done a great job at moving his feet, getting in on the forecheck and being hungry on pucks. And for that, for me, working off me and Ritchie here, that helps a lot for us.”

Soon enough, Kase will know what confidence means. It’s already clear that he has plenty of it, and that can only be good for the Ducks.


helene.elliott@latimes.com

Follow Helene Elliott on Twitter @helenenothelen