I have had the great fortune of writing regularly about sports since I got a part-time job with The Daily Breeze in 1988. Or was it 1990? 1992? When it comes to my life, I’m admittedly not the greatest when it comes to all the details. Fortunately, I still know things like my wife’s birthday. And our wedding date. And our kids’ birthdays. (Whew.)
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But I can still recall some of the great moments that I’ve written about and some of the great games. There was a prep basketball game where I witnessed Paul Pierce score 44 points, carry his underdog team into double overtime against a state powerhouse, lose on a dramatic buzzer-beater and convince me that he had NBA written all over him.
There was a wild junior college football game that ended with a 71-67 final where there were probably more points on the scoreboard than fans in the stands. Covering current MLB catcher Kurt Suzuki and Cal State Fullerton beating former Titans coaching legend Augie Garrido and Texas to win the College World Series in Omaha remains a highlight. I’m sure there are others, but I can’t readily recall them.
[ More Greatest Games from The Athletic L.A. ]
The memories become clearer when it comes to my time covering hockey. The first game I did was handle sidebar duty for a thrilling double overtime affair at the Forum, with Mike Krushelnyski scoring while being tackled and lying flat on the ice as the Kings upset defending Stanley Cup champion Calgary. Can’t remember the story I wrote — I do remember interviewing a disconsolate Theo Fleury — and it must not have been that good as I didn’t cover any more hockey for many years. (Turns out, I was at the Breeze in 1990). But I’ve been blessed to chronicle many Ducks moments since Bill Dwyre took a chance in trusting the beat to a neophyte that was doing some college sports at the Los Angeles Times.
Some of them have been especially fabulous along the way. Scott Niedermayer sitting stone-faced as his teammates and coaches were in total bedlam when Anaheim ruined a Battle of Alberta playoff showdown between Calgary and Edmonton with its Game 7 Ilya Bryzgalov-backstopped shutout of the Flames. The forced turnover by Andy McDonald and the ensuing forehand-to-backhand by Teemu Selanne to win the critical, pivotal Game 5 over Detroit at Joe Louis Arena in the 2007 Stanley Cup run. Corey Perry’s hat trick against San Jose to reach 50 goals in his blazing 2011 homestretch. Selanne pulling his former Cup-winning teammate Jean-Sebastien Giguere onto the ice for a victory lap and a seemingly endless Honda Center standing ovation in what would be No. 8’s final regular-season game — and Giguere’s last in the NHL. And there was the spectacle that was the 2014 outdoor game at Dodger Stadium.
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You might think that the clincher against Ottawa to capture the Cup is the greatest game I’ve covered. It might be the most memorable. But that was a blowout, with Perry’s capper setting off a continuous prolonged celebration that started with five minutes left in the third period. The greatest game that I keep going back to — and have occasionally dialed up the highlights over the last couple of years — is Game 5 of the 2017 second round against Edmonton. Nothing else compares when you think of its stunning nature and finish.
The Ducks had fought their way back in the series, winning twice at Rogers Place. They had the momentum coming back to Anaheim after Ryan Getzlaf’s majestic Game 4 — the center and towering leader having a direct hand in all four goals that included a steal and setup of Jakob Silfverberg’s OT winner — that’s still what I feel is the greatest game he has ever played. And yet it was the Oilers that held a 3-0 lead deep into the third period, with Getzlaf failing to beat Cam Talbot on a penalty shot and his teammates also peppering the Edmonton netminder but not getting anything past him. Meanwhile, Leon Draisaitl continued to torment the Ducks in a breakout series while a young(er) Connor McDavid was working his usual magic.
And then came the unimaginable. Ducks coach Randy Carlyle pulling goalie John Gibson for an extra attacker three times, the first coming with well over three minutes left. Think of the very possible way the Oilers could have … hell, should have wrapped up the game and gone back to Edmonton for a possible clinching Game 6. But the Ducks wouldn’t allow it to happen. Getzlaf ripping a big slap shot that ricocheted downward off Draisaitl’s back into the low right corner of the net with 3:16 left.
Cam Fowler perfectly weaving a wrister through traffic past Talbot and just under the crossbar 35 seconds later.
There is the dramatic tying goal by Rickard Rakell with 15.0 on the clock, the fans that didn’t start heading for the exits going berserk (most had remained contrary to the narrative that thousands had left) and the controversy of whether Ryan Kesler interfered with Talbot’s ability to make a save. Never mind that Fowler kept the play alive with a great recovery of the puck before it reached the blue line or that Rakell instinctively slid the puck underneath Talbot on his backhand. Did Kesler hold onto Talbot’s pad? Did the fallen center have no choice as Darnell Nurse had a grip on him in the crease? It is arguments like that which stay with diehard fans forever and carry a comeback like that into playoff lore.
Of course, the comeback wasn’t complete until Perry scored just under seven minutes into the second overtime. By then, Anaheim’s only Hart Trophy winner was starting to fade as an elite goal scorer and he found the net only four times in 17 playoff games that spring. Three of those won games in overtime. It was fitting that Getzlaf gave him one of his greatest passes and that Perry still had the silky hands to get Talbot to bite on an initial hesitation move and then slide the puck around the outstretched goalie. In retrospect, it was the final time the two stars that connected so often for the Ducks over 14 seasons were at the top of their game.
Now the series wasn’t won with that goal. Draisaitl would torch the Ducks again in a Game 6 rout that offered a glimpse into the German forward’s potential to be more than Robin to McDavid’s Batman. But the Ducks responded by playing their best game of the season, putting the clamps on the two Oilers stars and winning 2-1 to advance to the Western Conference final.
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Still, there was nothing like that mind-blowing Game 5. I felt wiped out that next morning. The Comeback on Katella. Improbable. Impossible. Remarkable. It could be a long time before something else tops that.
(Photo: John Cordes / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
