Ducks, Oilers Ready to Go

Captain Scott Niedermayer’s house had become the gathering place for a number of Mighty Ducks players Wednesday night. They had come to watch Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinal series between the Edmonton Oilers and San Jose Sharks.

For 2 1/2 hours, it was fun. At 7:43 p.m., the mood changed.

“As soon as the game was over, the nervousness set in,” said Todd Fedoruk, the Ducks’ enforcer. “It got real quiet. It was like, ‘OK, boys, it’s time to go.’ It was nice to be out of limbo.”

The Ducks, who went to work Thursday with a target finally in front of them, may as well be looking into a mirror heading into Game 1 of the conference finals tonight at the Arrowhead Pond.

How similar are the Ducks and Oilers?

Both have a popular goal scorer -- the Ducks’ Teemu Selanne and the Oilers’ Ryan Smyth.

Both have franchise defensemen who can control a game -- the Ducks’ Niedermayer and the Oilers’ Chris Pronger.

Both have enough speedy forwards to stretch across three lines and both have goaltenders -- the Ducks’ Ilya Bryzgalov and his counterpart, Dwayne Roloson -- no one dreamed would be starring in these playoffs.

Ducks defenseman Sean O’Donnell agrees.

“What makes them dangerous and what makes this similar to us is that they don’t rely on one line or one or two individuals,” he said. “They don’t really have one guy that you can say, ‘We shut him down, we’re going to win.’ I think our team is very similar that way too. Look at the defense. They have Pronger, we have Niedermayer. They have solid goaltending, we have solid goaltending.”

The Ducks and Oilers have also had similar hurdles. Neither was able to sew up a playoff spot until the final week of the regular season. And in the first round, both were sizable underdogs. The Ducks, seeded sixth, dispatched the third-seeded Calgary Flames, who won the tough Northwest Division. Edmonton, seeded eighth, bounced the top-seeded Detroit Red Wings.

“I don’t think anybody picked us over Calgary and certainly [the Oilers] were the underdog against Detroit,” center Andy McDonald said.

“It’s a good matchup. Certainly one I’m looking forward to.”

Both teams have also responded well to adversity. The Ducks have won six playoff games in a row after losing Game 5 to the Flames. The Oilers, after losing the first two games in San Jose, won the last four to advance to the conference finals for the first time since 1992.

“The teams have had to fight so hard to get to the playoffs,” Oilers Coach Craig MacTavish said. “By now, they’re both playoff tested.”

One difference is that the Ducks will have had seven days off after their four-game sweep of the Colorado Avalanche. The long break has allowed some injuries to heal but there is concern about regaining their edge.

“It’s the situation we were given and we tried to make the best of it,” Niedermayer said. “I think the rest is something that’s important to get if you’re going to go a little ways in the playoffs. Now our challenge is to be ready to go [tonight].”

Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle isn’t troubled by the time off.

“Rusty is not a word other than a nickname for [Ruslan] Salei, “ he said. “Rusty is not a word in our vocabulary. We have to be at the top of our game when the puck drops.”

Meanwhile, the Oilers are looking to ride the momentum of Wednesday’s victory over the Sharks.

“I hope it’s an advantage,” Edmonton winger Ethan Moreau said. “We’re on a high right now. We can’t wait to get back to the rink.”

The Ducks are aware of how momentum can carry a team. After their grueling, seven-game victory over the Flames, they dominated the Avalanche.

“You’re always going to be dealt different things during the playoffs,” Niedermayer said. “The teams that are going to have success are going to be able to handle those situations.”

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Keys to the series

Eric Stephens’ keys for the Ducks against Edmonton:

1. Must win at home: It’s true that home-ice advantage isn’t as imperative in the playoffs and, yes, the Ducks have already won four times on the road in this postseason. But considering they have the first two at home and their history at Rexall Place -- no victories since 1999 -- they might want to hold serve before facing a rabid Oilers crowd.

2. Key on Chris Pronger: The Oilers mammoth defenseman, a former league MVP, will play more than half the game in all situations. It will be up to the Ducks to establish their strong forechecking game to pressure Pronger into mistakes in his own zone and keep him from turning loose his speedy teammates with breakout passes.

3. Win the goaltending battle: Ilya Bryzgalov was brilliant in the Colorado series after strong performances in Games 6 and 7 against Calgary. Bryzgalov must stay hot as the Oilers’ Dwayne Roloson is finding his game at the right time.

-- ERIC STEPHENS