O’Donnell Steps Up, but Ready to Move On

The Mighty Ducks pulled into town around 4 a.m. Friday and the emotion of their dramatic Game 4 victory over the Flames in the Western Conference playoffs had players simply wanting to crawl into bed.

Not Sean O’Donnell.

Before he could sleep, the veteran defenseman wanted to savor one of the biggest moments of his career.

“I’m not going to lie. We got into the room last night and I watched SportsCentre on TSN,” said O’Donnell, whose game-winner in overtime gave the Ducks a 3-2 victory to even the first-round series at 2-2. “l had a smile on my face watching the replay.”

It was a rare moment. O’Donnell, 34, has scored only 27 goals in 771 regular-season games and 48 playoff contests.

But the Stanley Cup playoffs are often about unsung heroes seizing the moment in the spotlight.

O’Donnell did just that when he rocketed in a slap shot through the legs of screened-out Calgary goalie Miikka Kiprusoff.

“It’s not the first time we’ve talked about it,” Duck Coach Randy Carlyle said. “We’ve had some unsung heroes that have scored the big goals. Darren McCarty scored an overtime goal for them in the first game. Sami Pahlsson, from our perspective, scored a goal late in the third period that turned out to be the winner [in Game 2].

“With Sean O’Donnell’s goal last night, you wouldn’t characteristically classify him as an offensive player. You couldn’t say that he’s an offensive defenseman, but he was offensive enough last night.”

The Ducks say their key in tonight’s Game 5 at the Pengrowth Saddledome will be their ability to recall the strong effort they showed through most of Game 4. They say they must also put the dramatic ending behind them.

“We got ourselves even last night and we’ve given ourselves a great opportunity,” Duck captain Scott Niedermayer said. “We have to be prepared to play probably our best game. When a series comes near the end of it, it just gets harder.”

O’Donnell was more blunt.

“It was fun last night, but last night’s done,” he said. “If we come in floating on the Game 4 win, we’re going to get pounded.”

The Ducks also got a refresher course on the will of Calgary captain Jarome Iginla. Iginla has all three of his series goals in the Flames’ two losses, but he scored to spark a Game 2 rally that fell short and had two in the third period Thursday that forced overtime.

“I think he’s a great leader,” Duck goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere. “I’ve played with him and he’s just a great hockey player. He’s as good a leader as we have with Scott Niedermayer.

“When they need direction, he’s the guy that gives it to them. You’ve got to give him respect, but you can’t be intimidated by him.”

O’Donnell said he felt some pressure to fit in with the Ducks after asking the Phoenix Coyotes for a trade and having it granted at the March 9 NHL deadline.

Even with 11 years in the league, he was essentially replacing a fan favorite in Keith Carney. Die-hard supporters of the Ducks also knew O’Donnell spent his first six seasons with the rival Kings.

“I know Keith and have a lot of respect for him,” O’Donnell said. “He was here for a long time, and he was a key guy in the middle for a run.... Our roles are very similar and a lot of people have viewed [the trade] as kind of a one for one. How did the Ducks do? How did it turn out?

“As a professional, you try not to worry about that stuff. It takes time.... You try to prove to yourself and prove to the people they made the right choice.”

For now, O’Donnell will put aside the thrill of his moment. It doesn’t mean he’ll forget it.

“It really wasn’t until the flight where you sort of come down from that and you realize you’re fortunate to be the one that scored the goal,” he said. “Words can’t describe how happy I was to be able to do that for the team.”