Unappreciated Anaheim Ducks are one win away from Stanley Cup final

Kevin Allen | USA TODAY Sports

The Anaheim Ducks might be the most under-appreciated 109-point team in NHL history.

Even though the Ducks had the NHL's third-best regular-season record, there was no rush in April to proclaim them one of the teams to beat in the NHL playoffs. The Chicago Blackhawks and New York Rangers were the trendy picks, and even the St. Louis Blues and Tampa Bay Lightning received more love. You didn't have to go far to find folks who predicted the gritty Winnipeg Jets would upset the Ducks in the first round.

There were trust issues with the Ducks. It was difficult to believe in a team that ranked 17th in goal-differential, 20th in goals-against and 28th on the power play?

Today, as the Ducks need only a win Wednesday in Chicago to reach the Stanley Cup Final, it is clear that we should have looked more closely at this team.

If we did, we might have seen the Ducks were a team that had one important similarity with their rival Los Angeles Kings in that they should not be judged by statistics alone.

Much like the two-time champion Kings have been in recent years, the Ducks are set up to be successful in the postseason. We just didn't see it.

The Ducks are physically pounding away at opponents, averaging 41.3 hits per game. In the first five games of the Western Conference Finals, the Ducks have out-hit Chicago by roughly 15 hits per game.

Offering a quote that sounded as if it should be in a movie trailer, Ducks center Ryan Kesler said: "No human can withstand that."

Last summer, when Anaheim general manager Bob Murray acquired Kesler, he predicted it would be challenging to face the Ducks in the playoffs now that they have two extra-large centers in Ryan Getzlaf and Kesler. We've seen that in this postseason. The Winnipeg Jets, Calgary Flames and now the Blackhawks have all had to spend 60 to 65% of every game dealing with the size, skill and orneriness of one of those two centers.

Since the playoffs began, the Ducks have improved in all areas of the game, including power play, team defense and faceoffs.

Their power play is clicking at 25%, roughly 10 percentage points better than it did in the regular season. At 53.8% efficiency, they are, by far, the best faceoff team remaining. They are giving up 2.29 goals per game, showing a substantial improvement from where they were at in the regular season.

The trade deadline acquisition of Simon Despres from the Pittsburgh Penguins certainly has helped solidify the defense. He is plus-7, with seven points in 14 games. Frederik Andersen has also stood up to the pressure of being the No. 1 goalie, although he was substandard in Game 5.

Most important, the Ducks' two stars, Getzlaf (2-17--19) and Corey Perry (9-8--17), have thrived in the spotlight. The dynamic duo ranks first and third in the scoring race, even though they have played four fewer games than the sizzling Tampa Bay Lightning scorers.

The Ducks' depth has been a significant factor in their' success. No one anticipated Jakob Silfverberg producing 16 points in 14 games, and Matt Beleskey has stepped up with seven goals, including the overtime tally in Anaheim's Game 5 triumph.

Anaheim's postseason resiliency has been noteworthy, and we should have seen that coming. The Ducks won 12 times during the regular season when they trailed going into the third period.

Each time in this series that the Blackhawks have generated a huge win, the Ducks have come with a memorable performance in the next game. They are performing like a team that understands the requirements for winning in the postseason. The Ducks haven't lost in regulation since the playoffs began. All three of their losses have come in overtime.

The only problem the Ducks have is that the Blackhawks have a graduate degree in postseason success. The Blackhawks are not intimidated by being down 3-2 in a series. They have been here before and survived. Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and company will not go quietly. The Blackhawks, with 67 playoff wins since 2009, are a confident bunch. Kesler and his Ducks might not be able to pound that confidence out of them.

If the Ducks want to finish off the Blackhawks in Chicago, they might have to raise their game to the highest level.

As Kesler might say, no human, not even the Blackhawks, can survive that.

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