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Ducks shake off triple OT letdown in Game 3 win over Chicago

Ducks shake off triple OT letdown in Game 3 win over Chicago

The Anaheim Ducks showed no let-down or exhaustion in their 2-1 Game 3 Western Conference Final win over the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Ducks punched early, got the first goal of the game to settle them down and scored late in the second to pick up the win and a 2-1 series lead.

The previous game went almost the entirety of three overtimes before Chicago’s victory and there were questions about whether Anaheim could come back and produce with a win at Chicago in Game 3.

"This was a character win," Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said. "I thought a very good checking game for us, road game. I think, I mean, they're going to get some chances. There's no way you can stop them from getting chances. But I thought we limited their chances on the road. For a tired group, it was a really good game for us."

After the loss Tuesday in Anaheim, the Ducks needed to score first, and they did on a Patrick Maroon tip-in at the 12:55 mark of the opening period.

Chicago’s Patrick Kane countered with his first goal of the series at the 19:03 mark of the first period to knot the game at 1-1. It was touch-and-go for both teams from that point on until Simon Despres fired home a Getzlaf feed at the 19:05 mark of the second for the game-winner.

It must continue to be noted that Anaheim flat-out stole Despres for Ben Lovejoy from Pittsburgh at the trading deadline.

"He's a big, strong guy, so he can protect the puck really well. That's a real positive thing," Boudreau said. "I mean, his goal was a great one-timer. He doesn't get a chance to one-time the puck too often from his position. It was a great goal and a great shot."

Though much was made of Marcus Kruger’s game-winner in Game 2, and Andrew Shaw’s header for the Hawks, they won that game in part of two power play goals. The Ducks overcame a Hawks third period power play – which is never easy up a goal in a hostile building – and a four-minute double-minor by Jakob Silfverberg in the first. The Hawks were 0-for-5 on the power play for the game while the Ducks were 1-for-1 with the man-advantage.

"Obviously we had some success last game (on the power play). Put us in a spot to win the game. " Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. "Tonight we had several good opportunities, but didn't have the good looks we had last game.

Quenneville faced some questions after the game for some lineup changes. He took out Antoine Vermette and Teuvo Teravainen and replaced them with Joakim Nordstrom and Kris Versteeg. Neither registered a point, and Nordstrom was a minus-1.

"Well, we just wanted to get some fresh legs in there," Quenneville said. "We felt that Steeger had never played over a long stretch in the last series, we wanted to get him back in there. You know, tough game the other day, travel. We wanted to bring some new guys in."

Chicago nearly tied it up in the final seconds when Kane slipped through the Ducks defense, but just missed on a partial breakaway to end the game.

Wow, that was close.

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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