ShareThisBy JIM ALEXANDER
The Press-Enterprise
Friday, May 25, 2007
Maybe we've been asking the wrong question all along.
All this time, we've been fixated on whether the Anaheim Ducks can stay out of the penalty box and not put such a burden on their penalty killers.
But as we saw in the third period of Tuesday night's far-closer-than-necessary 4-3 victory over Detroit in Game 6 that put Anaheim into the Stanley Cup Finals, staying out of the box may be too much to ask.
And for the purpose of this conversation, let's forget that Anaheim led the NHL in penalty minutes during the regular season. The Ducks' total of 17.8 minutes a game was inflated by 71 fighting majors and 11 misconducts.
They were 12th in the league, solidly middle of the pack, in minor penalties with 461. That's the pertinent stat here.
By this time of the year, fights and fracases are put on the back burner because so much is at stake. But too many minors can kill you against a team with an effective power play.
In 16 playoff games, the Ducks have amassed 113 minor penalties, or 7.02 a game _ fourth-highest per-game average among the 16 teams that started the Stanley Cup tournament. Calgary, Vancouver and Atlanta had more, and their players are now working on their golf handicaps.
So maybe the appropriate question is just how much of a burden the Ducks' penalty killers can handle.
They will have their hands full, certainly, with the Ottawa Senators beginning with Monday's Game 1 of the final series.
The Senators were No. 2 in scoring during the season. Ottawa's line of Daniel Alfredsson, Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza is the top scoring line in the playoffs, and nine of its 23 goals have come on the power play. Defensemen Wade Redden (two goals) and Joe Corvo (one) have also contributed to Ottawa's 14 power-play goals and 20 percent success rate in the playoffs.
This could be where the series is decided.
The Ducks' penalty killers have succeeded at an 87.5 percent rate in the postseason. But that percentage suffered against the Red Wings who scored nine goals in 40 power-play opportunities in the Western Conference finals, two in that hairy final 10 minutes Tuesday night.
Think the Senators' scorers are licking their chops?
"Obviously, they've got lots of skill," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said of Ottawa's power-play unit during a conference call Thursday.
"They use Redden as their quarterback. He's the guy that dishes the puck off. They've got Spezza on the side wall. Heatley is a big body in front of the net (and) moves in and out. And Alfredsson, I don't know if there's a more dynamic player right now at this time of year (with) what he's brought to the table. ... Corvo is a shooter. He's got a big-time shot."
His penalty killers' assignment, Carlyle continued, is to understand when to apply pressure and when not to.
"You've got to keep that thing tight," he said. "Try to push them outside of the shooting lanes and keep things to the outside. It's a difficult task."
But there's another possible antidote. What if the Ducks actually tried to keep Ottawa's power play holstered?
I know, too much to hope for. Hey, it was just a thought.
As Scott Niedermayer pointed out before Game 6 against the Red Wings, the penalties the Ducks are committing aren't sins of aggression.
"A lot of the fouls aren't even from hard hits," he said. "A lot are from reaching with your stick. That just takes a concerted effort mentally to not put your stick in those places. Don't make it easy for them.
"If you skate and you're in good position, you don't find yourself having to reach around with the stick."
In other words: Move your feet, don't get beat.
"We get into penalty trouble when we stop moving our feet," Chris Pronger said. "We stop making plays and executing.
"We're a team that likes to skate. When you take that extra second to look up and survey, as opposed to moving your feet, you're allowing them that opportunity to catch you, to pick your pocket, to adjust your coverage. You're going to be forced into situations you normally wouldn't be in."
Yes, but at this point playing short-handed almost has become normalcy for this group.
The question now is whether they can pull it off. But if the Ducks' penalty killers can't muffle the Senators' power play, I doubt there will be any need to block off Katella Ave. for a Stanley Cup parade.
