Nashville's lack of Game 7 experience could turn tide for Ducks

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- For the first time in three years, the Anaheim Ducks may have their best chance at winning a Game 7.

They just needed the right opponent, and in the Nashville Predators, they might have it.

In the 22-season existence of the Ducks, they've made the playoffs 12 times, playing a total of 24 series. Of those series, only seven have ever gone to Game 7.

They've only won two series decided in Game 7; in 1997 and 2006.

With the exception of losing to Detroit in 2013, Anaheim has lost to teams who either went on to play in the Western Conference Final and/or for the Stanley Cup. By most accounts, their opponents were more experienced, and well, better than the Ducks.

That brings us to the Predators.

In their 17-season existence, the Preds have been to the playoffs nine times. They have been in a Game 7 exactly zero times. Wednesday night's meeting will be a first for the majority of the Predators roster.

Check out the players on both teams with no NHL Game 7 experience:

Nashville's side of the ledger is clearly more comprehensive, and has bigger names (i.e. Josi and Weber). Of the six defensemen expected to play in the game, only Barret Jackman has Game 7 experience.

The Predators plan on leaning on those that have been there to get them through this game. From Predators.com:

“There’s such good leadership in our room,” [Coach Peter] Laviolette said. “The leaders in the room are quality people and great character people, guys that would want to be in these situations. [Monday] night was a perfect example: Paul Gaustad, Shea Weber, Pekka Rinne, Mike Fisher, James Neal, lots of guys. The leadership is really important in those situations, and we have some good leaders.”

Can leaders lead when they don't know what they're going through? It's not to say the Preds don't have elimination game experience; just not in the vaunted Game 7. The name alone carries weight.

Of the leaders mentioned, only Gaustad, Neal, and Fisher have played in a Game 7. Here's how they and the other experienced Preds skaters fared in those games:

Ribeiro's one win in Game 7 came 2003-04 as a part of the Montreal Canadiens.

For Nashville, they may not have the players on the ice with Game 7, but they have one person that could make all the difference in the world - head coach Peter Laviolette.

Again, from the Preds website:

"Tonight's contest will be Laviolette's fifth time to be behind the bench of a Game Seven matchup. He has a 4-1 record, winning the 2006 Eastern Conference Final against Buffalo 4-2, the Stanley Cup Final versus Edmonton in 2006 (3-1), the 2010 Eastern Conference Semifinal versus Boston (4-3) and the 2011 Quarterfinal against Buffalo (4-3). His only Game Seven loss came in the 2002 Quarterfinal series against Toronto (L, 4-2)."

It goes without saying, Laviolette's 4-1 record in Games 7 far outweighs Bruce Boudreau's 1-7. Boudreau has picked up three of those losses with the Ducks in the past three seasons.

Boudreau said something interesting in his off-day meeting with the media: "In the past I haven’t said anything going into Game 7. I just thought [in Tuesday's meeting] we needed something to be said."

When asked if he cared to elaborate, Boudreau quickly responded with, "No."

The Ducks definitely have the more experienced squad on the ice when it comes to Game 7, and that could, for once, be of help to them.

"I don’t have as much anxiety about it as when I was a little bit younger," said Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler. "Anytime you go through them, it helps you prepare for the next one. It’s not always the easiest thing when you’re a young player to get yourself in the right frame of mind for a Game 7, but the more times you do it, the easier it gets. Still have to be ready and prepared for a hard fought game ... It comes down to who wants it the most; who executes better than the other team. We haven’t done that in previous years but hopefully we can change that [on Wednesday]."

"We’re not concerned with the past. I’ve been on both sides of Game 7s," said Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf. "Everybody talks about the ones we lost. I’ve been on the winning side of them too. It’s just about playing. We have to go out with this group, prepare the right way and get ready to play tonight."

The last time Getzlaf and Corey Perry won a Game 7 they were rookies in 2005-06 with the then Mighty Ducks of Anaheim who defeated the Calgary Flames in Round 1. Incidentally, that's the last time Anaheim won a Game 7.

The losses on the Ducks side of the ledger are greater than the wins; however, a majority of the players have been together since the team started its epic journey of Game 7 defeats in 2012-13.

Indicated by the morning skate, rookie defenseman Shea Theodore is going to draw out of the lineup in favor of veteran d-man Clayton Stoner. Stoner has not appeared in this series due to a nagging upper-body injury. He last played on April 10 in the team's final regular-season meeting against Washington.

So what does this all mean? It's all going to come down to the psychology of hope.

"You don’t want to paralyze yourself by overthinking too much in situations and whatever,” Predators captain Shea Weber said. “You have to do what you’ve done to this point in the season to be successful. You have to play aggressive, play hard and hope that’s good enough.”

Funny Weber should mention 'hope.'

"[Playing] safe is going to get you nowhere," said Andrew Cogliano on Tuesday. "Being safe, being ... timid, or hoping for something is going to get you exactly where its gotten us. That’s where we’ve lost the last couple of years."

Should be a fun one.

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Jen Neale is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow her on Twitter! Follow @MsJenNeale_PD.

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