Column: For Ryan Getzlaf and the Ducks, it’s another shot to get over the Game 7 hump
Ryan Getzlaf has never been one to delve into deep analysis of a game or a trend. Don’t ask him about similarities from one season to the next because he will insist he doesn’t remember. As far as he’s concerned, inspirational speeches are for actors to deliver in movies, not for him to spout in a locker room. For Getzlaf it’s all about routine, simplicity and a small-picture focus, a mantra that has been effective for him and the Ducks so far.
That’s why one too many attempts by reporters to analyze and extract great meaning from the all-too-familiar playoff predicament the Ducks are facing led him to break his calm and infuse some emotion into his voice Tuesday.
The Ducks’ previous four seasons have ended when they lost a Game 7 at home after they had taken a 3-2 series lead, and a loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday at Honda Center would extend that sorry streak to an unfathomable five. Because of that, Getzlaf was asked what he plans to say to the team before Wednesday’s game. “Just to play,” he said. He was asked if they might be relaxed and refreshed enough to break their losing pattern after getting two days’ rest following their collapse in Sunday’s 7-1 loss at Edmonton. He was then asked if they might be too relaxed. Finally, he became animated.
“The battle that we go through on everything is that there’s a million questions out there with everything to do with Game 7s and all the other stuff but it’s about playing hockey,” he said. “At the end of the day we’re going out on the ice and we have to play better than the team over there. And if we don’t do that, we’re going to lose.”
Maybe it really is that simple. But it’s time for them to figure out why they haven’t managed to play better than “the team over there” in each of the past four seasons, and to avoid a repeat.
This is a crucial moment for the Ducks because reputations are forged in the cauldron of intense playoff competition. Win, and they break out of a sour chapter of their history. Lose, and they will be labeled as a good regular-season team that didn’t win when it mattered.
Getzlaf could be the key to the path they take.
The Ducks’ captain, who will turn 32 on Wednesday, has led them this spring with splendid performances in every facet of the game. He has won key faceoffs, scored big goals — he leads them in goals (eight) and points (15) — and has rejuvenated his linemate, Corey Perry, since they were reunited in Game 4. He has often been dominant, a leader by example.
A member of the Ducks’ 2007 Stanley Cup championship team as a support player at age 22, he went on to win two Olympic gold medals for Canada and the World Cup of Hockey title last year. The significant blemish on his resume is his performances in playoff Game 7s: He has lost five of six and has recorded no goals and three assists. That must change Wednesday in order for the Ducks’ playoff fortunes to change.
Keeping to his routine of calm and consistency, he said he’s getting ready for this game as he would for any other, no matter that it’s a Game 7 and their season is on the line. “We’ve been preparing for this the last two months. Everything that we’ve done is about trying to maintain that same mentality and that same ability to go out and perform,” he said. “So yes, there’s more thoughts that go through your head, for sure, but at the same time, it’s still a hockey game.”
He also said the Ducks were able to take pointers from those past Game 7 losses. “I think you learn things along the way and take more out of losing than you do winning most of the time,” he said. “There’s a certain accountability that you have to put on yourself to go out and perform and just go out and play the game and try not to overthink it, just go out and play the way we can.”
Of course, all those losses have given the Ducks many chances to learn what they’ve been doing wrong.
The opportunity before them now is enormous. No kid playing in a driveway or on a frozen pond dreams of a Game 7 loss. “The last three months of the season was all about getting to this moment, where we can move on to the next round,” Getzlaf said. “Whether it would have been Game 6 or Game 7 or whatever it is, it’s about putting a team behind you when you have the opportunity to do that.”
For the Ducks, it’s also about finally putting their playoff demons behind them.
Follow Helene Elliott on Twitter @helenenothelen
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