Anaheim 6, Ottawa 2What started out as three children’s movies for the Disney Corporation has turned into the 2007 Stanley Cup Champions. Gordon Bombay would be so proud with his Flying “V” standing for victory for the Anaheim Ducks, the first west coast team to win the trophy since the NHL took over handing out the hardware in 1925.
The Ducks, once ridiculed by hockey purists for their goofy nickname and cartoonish logo, completed their ascent to the top of the NHL by winning their first Stanley Cup championship with a 6-2 rout of the Ottawa Senators. “I think we’ve been holding back on the emotions for the last couple of days and it’s one of those things that’s kind of surreal at this point,” Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle said. “You can’t really fathom that we’ve got it done.”
Scott Niedermayer finally was named the Conn Smythe winner, many thought he deserved four years ago. His biggest thrill came when he handed the Cup off to Rob, a big reason he came to Anaheim before last season. “I don’t think I’ll ever have a better feeling than that in my career,” Rob said.
The Senators started very poorly and took three consecutive minors, the first two of which gave the Ducks a 15-second 5-on-3 advantage and their first goal. Andy McDonald started the scoring 3:41 in, his third tally in two games and 10th goal of the playoffs, with a shot through Emery’s legs from the right circle, which came with only a one-man advantage, but it was only a second after Tom Preissing’s penalty for interference ended.
The Senators might have recovered from that had they capitalized on the three power plays they had in the second half of the period. However, despite some close calls, Francois Beauchemin got the blade of his stick on a shot from Jason Spezza at the right post, they couldn’t get any past Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who needed to make only 11 saves. The Ducks widened their lead to 2-0 when they pounced on another Ottawa mistake. Rob Niedermayer got away on a break and blew past Mike Comrie and backhanded a shot in off Emery with 2:19 left in the period. Daniel Alfredsson made it 2-1 at 11:27 of the second on a wrist shot with assists from Peter Schaefer and Mike Fisher. But the Ducks moved ahead 3-1 when Chris Phillips’ big mistake put the life back in the building. While being chased behind the net, Phillips pushed a pass as he came out the left side. The puck went into Emery’s skates and found its way in with 4:16 left in the period. Anaheim’s Travis Moen was the closest Duck to Phillips when it happened, and he was given credit for the goal.
Beauchemin scored a powerplay goal for Anaheim to move the Ducks ahead to 4-2 late in the second period, seconds after Senators captain Alfredsson potted his second goal – shorthanded – at 17:38.
Moen got his second goal of the night on a wrist shot, assisted by Scott Niedermayer and Samuel Pahlsson at 4:01 of the third period to move ahead 5-2.
Corey Perry gave the Ducks a four-goal lead with 3 minutes remaining.
It was a poor game from netminder Emery, who let in at least two bad goals, and the unfortunate mistake by Phillips. He never looked comfortable in net, allowing six goals on 18 shots. But he wasn’t alone.
Jason Spezza scored 34 goals in the regular season, but had none in the finals, and got into a verbal exchange with coach Bryan Murray during the game. “I knew if I didn’t play better it would be tough for us to win,” Spezza said. “It’s extremely disappointing to come this far and lose.”
The inability to follow instructions was clearly a problem. For example, Murray, who is now without a contract, wanted his players to dump the puck into the Anaheim zone since even a peewee player could see that the Ducks were lining up in the neutral zone. However, the Senators persisted in either trying to stickhandle through a crowd or make a cute pass to a teammate at the blue line. Both inevitably led to turnovers and Anaheim scoring chances.
“That’s our team,” said a jubilant Giguere, who needed to make only 11 saves. “I thought we had a big game tonight. We really played well, especially in the third. We found a way to win just like we did all year.”
Fairy tale ending, for a group of players who never won the Stanley Cup, except for Scott Niedermayer. Just like in the movies.
NOTE: Due to a modem failure, I would like to apologize for the summary being a day late. Thank you. – Bob
