Ducks say two-day getaway was a worthwhile escape from playoff grind
The Ducks said they got the rest and refreshment they had hoped for when team management decided to take a side trip to Kelowna between Games 3 and 4 of their second-round playoff series against the Oilers.
They practiced at Prospera Place, home of the Western Hockey League’s Kelowna Rockets, on Monday and Tuesday before taking the one-hour flight back to Edmonton on Tuesday afternoon.
“Number one, the scenery that we’re living in and the hotel on the water, the mountain air. It’s nice to see the sunshine here today. It’s a beautiful place,” Coach Randy Carlyle said. “We just felt that coming here would give us some time to decompress, and that’s what we felt was necessary for our group.”
Center Ryan Getzlaf, who used to own a home in this resort city, compared it to the team’s trip to Banff between Games 3 and 4 of their second-round series against Calgary in 2015.
“Same idea, same concept. It was about getting away,” he said. “The city of Kelowna is a great city. We love it. … It was nice to come back and breathe a little bit and get ready for [Wednesday].”
The ultimate success of their detour will be determined Wednesday. But history is on the Ducks’ side: They won the game that followed their visit to Banff.
“It only matters if we win,” Getzlaf said. “I like the way our team responded today. We practiced well today. But we’re going to have to go back and carry it over.”
Protected species?
Carlyle, who predicted before the series that the Oilers would whine about the Ducks’ cheating on faceoffs, later said he put that out there just for the media to feast on. And he offered another morsel to the Edmonton press corps Tuesday.
Asked about a penalty called on Corey Perry for interference against Connor McDavid in Game 3, Carlyle was ready.
“To me, it seems like there is somewhat of a white-glove treatment for Mr. McDavid,” Carlyle said of the NHL’s leading scorer, who is one of three nominees for the Hart Trophy. “The restrictions on anybody touching him seems to be a little bit higher than normal. It’s fact.
“We review the tape numerous times. He does draw penalties because of his speed. But if you don’t get close to him and you’re not inside of him, you’re going to watch him or you’re going to try and impede his progress.”
Turning on the power play
The Oilers skated through a high-paced practice at Rogers Place on Tuesday morning, and a good portion of the 45-minute session was dedicated to resetting the team’s power play. Edmonton got three power-play goals in the first two games of the series, but the Ducks shut them out on three opportunities in Game 3.
“They do a good job up ice, and they have a pretty hard stand at the blue line,” forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said of the Ducks. “There’s where the frustration part comes in, when you don’t get control coming into the zone.
“Once we’re in there, we’re fine. It’s just a matter of getting in there and having control of the puck.”
Etc.
Carlyle said defenseman Kevin Bieksa, who is dealing with a lower-body injury, will not play in Game 4. Bieksa skated in practice Monday for the first time since an apparent knee injury took him out of the lineup in Game 1.
Elliott reported from Kelowna, Canada, and Baxter from Edmonton, Canada.
Follow Helene Elliott on Twitter @helenenothelen
Follow Kevin Baxter on Twitter @kbaxter11
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