Series only truly turned in third period of Game 4

It’s been over a year since the Ottawa Senators’ dreams of their first championship in over 80 years unravelled in shocking fashion, when they lost 6-2 to the Anaheim Ducks in the decisive Game 5 of the 2007 Stanley Cup final.

Back home, they wasted no time putting away the Senators, who finally cracked under pressure and simply self-destructed in all facets of the game. The goal by Chris Phillips on his own team, the whiffed penalty shot by Antoine Vermette, and weak goals let in by goaltender Ray Emery were notable low-lights.

The 2007 Ducks were a big, mean squad that physically punished the Senators at nearly every possible opportunity, and scored timely goals.

They also barely made it to the Stanley Cup final, and were lucky to get away with what they did physically – but more on the bruising later.

Many would say Ottawa really lost the series early on after going into a 2-0 hole, and that Game 5 was simply the icing on the cake.

Not so. They were in it until the third period of Game 4, which led to the total write-off that was Game 5.

By the skin of their teeth

After Game 4 was in the books, the Ducks had won a record 12 one-goal games in their playoff run, equalling their own record from 2003, and Montreal’s 1993 run.

This meant that getting through all four rounds was done by the skin of their teeth. Nine of the 12 required victories to claim the West were by one goal, along with three in the Cup final (3-2 in Game 1, 1-0 in Game 2, 3-2 in Game 4).

Five of the Ducks’ nine one-goal games to beat the Western teams were in overtime, including three in Round 2 vs. Vancouver, and two in the Conference final vs. Detroit.

The Ducks caught a huge break when Red Wings defenceman Andreas Lilja whiffed on a breakout pass, allowing Teemu Selanne to score in overtime of Game 5. With only 47 seconds left in the third period, Ducks defenceman Scott Niedermayer had scored the Ducks’ only goal of the game with the man advantage, tying the contest.

Hardly a walk.

Granted, the Senators also won two overtime games in the Eastern Conference final vs. Buffalo, but also made quick work of the East in a 12-3 romp.

Ray Emery...for Conn Smythe?

Well, that could be a stretch now, but it was not outrageous at the time.

During the aforementioned 12-3 romp, Senators goaltender Ray Emery had three shutouts en route to the final, while his opponent in the final, Jean-Sebastien Giguere, had none.

It should be pointed out that Emery had the shutdown tandem of Chris Phillips and Anton Volchenkov playing in front of him, with the latter leading the league with 273 blocked shots in the regular season.

In the same breath, Emery made the stops when he needed to. In the second round, he outshone future hall-of-famer Martin Brodeur, who let in several soft goals.

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