In Game 3 of the Ducks’ first round matchup against the Edmonton Oilers, Jeff Viel took a cross checking penalty 200 feet from his own net, sending the Oilers to the power play. Connor McDavid would score on the ensuing power play, cutting the Ducks’ lead to one.
“Bad penalty,” Viel said after the game. “Cant take a penalty in the o-zone. I kind of felt bad, especially since they score on (the power play). Huge goal they get back after.”
But Viel would atone for his error, depositing a backhand past Connor Ingram—after some terrific work from Jackson LaCombe—to give Anaheim a much-needed insurance goal with just over three minutes left to play in the third period.
In Game 4, Mason McTavish also took an offensive zone penalty, with the Oilers scoring just four seconds into that power play. Viel would score in his second consecutive game 10 minutes later, setting the series up for its first overtime game. Again, a Ducks player would atone for his earlier error, with McTavish proving vital on Ryan Poehling’s overtime winner.
As Oilers forward Trent Frederic attempted to skate the puck out of the defensive zone, McTavish stripped him and sent the puck up to Poehling all in one motion. Poehling’s centering pass to Chris Kreider caromed off Darnell Nurse’s skate and slipped through goaltender Tristan Jarry, barely crossing the goal line. That play gave the Ducks a 3-1 series lead, a momentum swing that put them in the driver’s seat.
“I think that we have ways of whether you get scored on or you make mistakes, we expect it,” head coach Joel Quenneville said. “I think sometimes, you might miss a little of time, you might miss a shift here or there, but you're gonna be out there. You're gonna be right back out there. Sometimes, (there) might be some longer absences in that, whether it’s missing a part of a period and after that, you might not play games. But, for the most part, (they should) expect to be out there.
“The guys know that we're going to make mistakes, especially defensively. We’ve been trying to improve that area because we know that we battle back and we have fine ways of putting ourselves back in the game. It’s basically been the way the season has gone all year long. That’s been proven that, hey, we're not out of anything.”
“It was pretty stressful in the penalty box,” Viel said. “The confidence from Q for putting me back out there after a tough penalty was a good vote of confidence. Awesome to get rewarded.”
“We’re just gonna make mistakes,” defenseman Jacob Trouba said. “We’re still gonna continue to make mistakes. We’re learning on the fly here, but there’s no quit in the group. There’s no letdown. We believe we can score goals, we believe we can defend well enough, we believe we can win hockey games. I think that’s what it’s all about right now.”
The words ‘believe’ and ‘belief’ have been used heavily by the Ducks throughout this playoff run. Troy Terry stated how proud he was of the team after Game 1 of their series against the Oilers.
“It’s unfortunate, the result of that game, and it's going to be tough to swallow, but we got to put it behind us.” Terry said. “But I I we kind of got our feet under us. We’re into this thing now.”
“We believe in ourselves,” Captain Radko Gudas said. “We’ve been down so many times this year and we keep coming back, so there's a big belief in this group.”
“We just believe in ourselves,” Poehling echoed after his overtime winner in Game 4. “I thought we played great, honestly. The whole game just got off to a start where they got a few bounces, but that's the thing about our team. We've done it all year and I think it just teaches you throughout a season that, hey, you're never out of it. And the belief on the bench is something that you truly feel and you go out there with confidence and play. It’s a great way to play hockey.”
The Ducks’ self-belief, coupled with a short memory, will aid them well in a matchup against another team with plenty of playoff experience in Vegas. While the Ducks may have swept the season series, a new face is behind the bench for Vegas after Bruce Cassidy was fired with eight games remaining in the regular season. John Tortorella has the reins for the rest of the season and holds a record of 11-2-1 since becoming the new bench boss.
“Short memory, forget about it,” Cutter Gauthier said of the team’s reaction to their Game 5 loss in Edmonton.” The longer we let it linger, the longer it's going to affect our game. It’s a new day. We have a 3-2 series lead right now, and we have an opportunity to win the series tonight. So we're going to do everything we can to try and get that done.”
The best players at keeping a short memory are the goaltenders. Lukáš Dostál’s performances in the first round were quite up to standard, but he saved his best performance for the closeout game, stopping 25 of 27 shots and making plenty of key saves to prevent the Oilers from sending the series to seven games.
“He’s a special goalie,” defenseman Jackson LaCombe said. “He's been huge for us all year, and I think, honestly, that (the goals against) starts on us as players. I think we’ve got to be better. We knew they were gonna have a push when their backs against the wall. He’s been great for us all year, and I think those goals are on us.”
“I can turn the page right away because I don't wanna really dig too much into the past,” Dostál said. “I'm trying to take the positives, trying to take the negatives, always, from the game and just move on.”
The idea of self-belief being the driving factor for top-notch playoff performances may feel a bit whimsical, but the Ducks have shown that they can turn up another gear. Their 2-6-2 stretch to close out the regular season was nowhere to be found in the playoffs as they dispatched the Oilers in six games. They’ll need some of the same self-belief and short memory if they hope to beat the Golden Knights.
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