ANAHEIM >> Ducks-Blackhawks Game 5, the morning after:

— Will this be the best playoff series in Ducks history? Or is it already? Only two rivals come to mind. In 2007 the Ducks had to pull out Game 5 in Joe Louis Arena but then hammered Detroit at home to win the Western Conference Finals in six. In 2003 the Ducks went to five overtimes to beat Dallas in Game 1 of the Western semis, then held on to win in six, with five games decided by one goal.

PHOTOS: Ducks claim incredible Game 5 in OT

— The game-winner came after Chicago’s Bryan Bickell tried to dump the puck deep so the Hawks could change personnel. But Francois Beauchemin deflected the pass and it wound up with Jakob Silfverberg, who gunned it to Ryan Kesler before Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews & Co. could catch up to the play.

— But this one has the same type of top-shelf talent as the Ducks-Wings series. And each game seems to put the previous one to shame. Monday’s Game 5 was almost unimaginable. Sheer domiantion by the Ducks in the first period, a painstaking comeback by the Blackhawks, and then two goals by the incomparable Jonathan Toews in the final two minutes of regulation. It ended 45 seconds into overtime, the Ducks rightfully figuring they couldn’t give Chicago another shot at Frederik Andersen.

— Ryan Getzlaf compared the series to an “emotional roller-coaster.” Right idea. But in terms of all the can-you-top-this moments, it’s more like an emotional escalator.

— Ryan Kesler has changed the Ducks much as Chris Pronger did in 2007, by showing them it’s always possible to get more competitive and cold-blooded. He is the ultimate north-south player on offense, and his straight-line drive toward Corey Crawford in overtime was his essence, as he drove the puck against Crawford’s pads and back to the charging Matt Beleskey, who converted.

— Bruce Boudreau began the night by putting Tomas Fleischmann with Kesler and dropping Beleskey to Nate Thompson’s line. It worked at first, since Fleischmann brought fresh legs to the game and gave the Ducks a boost in his first two shifts. But eventually Beleskey and Kyle Palmieri went back to their customary lines, and Anaheim played with more stability afterward.

— Toews’ goal that cut Anaheim’s lead to 4-3, on the 6-on-5 situation, was a masterpiece of anticipation. He swooped to the puck before anyone could realize he was there, and shot quickly to beat Andersen.

— His game-tying goal was handled poorly by Andersen, but it was another drop-in as Beleskey and Andrew Shaw were jabbing at the puck in the corner.

— Anaheim caught Chicago in a change on the overtime goal, with Toews and Patrick Kane behind the play.

— Andersen struggled on at least three Blackhawks’ goals. Teuvo Teravainen’s goal that made it 3-1 dribbled through him, and he had a good look at Brent Seabrook’s goal before the end of the second period and couldn’t stop that. He also was helped by yet another outbreak of shot-blocking that Crawford can only envy. When Sami Vatanen scored to make it 3-0, Crawford had just stopped Jiri Sekac and Vatanen and was set to give the Blackhawks some reasons to believe. But Nicklas Hjalmarsson was standing near Crawford, either screening him or failing to block the shot.

— Of course, you also wonder if Chicago’s D-men have been told not to block shots in potentially painful situations because the Blackhawks only have four D they can comfortably play. Simon Despres and Cam Fowler, playing together, blocked 11 shots, as many as Chicago’s whole team. Anaheim shot 21.

— The Ducks’ first two goals came on plays involving Kimmo Timonen and Kyle Cumiskey, the third defense pair for the Blackhawks. As Andrew Cogliano accepted Timonen’s hit and then brought him in front of Crawford to help screen for Fowler’s goal, Kesler ran Kyle Cumiskey and made him burp up the puck before the hit even came. Kesler then went to the net and deflected the second goal past Crawford.

— Kesler and Ryan Getzlaf were 29-14 in faceoffs.

— As if the Blackhawks didn’t have enough hand-eye talent, Teravainen was their best player for much of Game 5. He was a first-round pick in 2014, the year he captained Finland to the World Juniors gold medal.

— The Duncan Keith-o-Meter rests at 27:23, his ice time in Game 5 and, really, just another workday for him.

— The road to Game 7 gets interesting. A Chicago win Wednesday will bring Game 7 to Honda Center, where the Ducks lost to Detroit two years ago and to the Kings last year. It also would be played on Saturday and, for the first time in the series, both teams will have two days off, going in. That would hamper the Ducks’ plans to beat the Blackhawks into surrender. All the more reason why the Ducks will try to play Game 6 like the End of Days.