Game 2 of the 2015 Western Conference finals was an instant classic. Years from now, people will be flipping through the channels and suddenly find themselves sitting down and re-watching the triple-overtime thriller, transfixed by the sheer madness of 102 minutes of hockey.
How could the Anaheim Ducks and the Chicago Blackhawks really follow that act?
Well, the Ducks followed it up with a 2-1 win Thursday night at the United Center, to take a 2-1 series lead. It wasn't pretty, but it worked.
That's what happens when you play three overtimes and then fly three-plus hours across the country the next day. It was a gritty performance and a defensive battle played on tired legs with tired minds, but it sure showed what the Ducks are made of.
"Sometimes in games like this, when you had a long game the game before, sometimes you have to dig down and gut it out," Ducks center Nate Thompson said. "This is that time of year."
After the morning skate, coach Bruce Boudreau said no one would really know if there were any lingering effects of Game 3. As good as everyone felt in the morning skate, they knew that was hardly indicative of what was to come later.
"The analogy is doing a hard weight lifting workout. You're just sore the next day," said winger Andrew Cogliano. "I think it was more a mental battle for everyone tonight. We had basically played two games and that's pretty tough. I think both teams were tired, you could tell. I think the pace wasn't as high. But I think this was a character win for us."
The Blackhawks had some fresh legs with Kris Versteeg and Joakim Nordstrom in the lineup and attempted to come out fast and dictate the pace -- play their game and move with light-speed to try to prevent the hard-checking Ducks from knocking them off pace, they thought.
But it was quickly apparent that neither team would be skating to their full potential. It was a sloppy start for all involved. The sub-par ice conditions didn't help, either.
"I think at times if you got caught out there a little long, sometimes you feel it," Thompson said. "I think both teams were feeling the effects from last game, but I thought we really did a good job of being good defensively and gutting it out."
The game plan called for short shifts and simple plays, but when the Ducks were whistled for three penalties in the first 14 minutes -- four if you count Jakob Silfverberg's double-minor -- that game plan was suddenly under duress.
Remarkably, the Ducks killed off all five minors, never veering off course. Even more remarkable was the way they executed their physical checking game and blocked 27 shots. Goaltender Frederik Andersen turned in yet another outstanding performance, stopping 27 of 28 shots.
The only one that got through was one that only few goalies could stop - a spinning backhand shot by Patrick Kane made with his back to the net.
"(Assistant coach) Trent (Yawney) puts a great game plan together for the penalty killers, so they know how to play. It's just executing the game plan," Boudreau said. "When they execute the game plan, it works. Your best penalty killer, you heard it for years and years, is your goaltender. When all else fails, they make a great play, your goalie makes a great save, he makes the penalty killing look pretty good."
The beleaguered Ducks did everything they said they would. They got to the net: Patrick Maroon deflected one in on the power play and Corey Perry's screen in front of Corey Crawford prevented him from seeing Simon Despres' one-timer for the game-winner. They slowed the Blackhawks down and they killed penalties.
With 10 postseason wins, it seems as though there isn't much that Anaheim isn't able to overcome right now.
"Nobody mentioned anything 'cause they all want to play, so they're not going to say whether they're tired or not," Boudreau said. "The will on this team - I've said all year from day one, you could see it in training camp, you could see it in the pre-season games. You guys would talk to me and say there's a different aura about this group.
"We haven't won anything, but there is a resiliency that's as good as most."
