from Pierre LeBrun of ESPN,

The Anaheim Ducks in the playoffs have presented a microcosm of their season, digging a huge hole out of the gates before finding the resolve to climb out of it.

And in both cases, just when the outside world began to wonder about this team, the players inside never lost doubt.

"Just like our season," observed center Ryan Kesler after a third straight victory over the Nashville Predators on Saturday afternoon, this one by a 5-2 count. "We started off terrible and then got good. It's a race to four and we still have to win another game. But I don't think there's a single guy in this room that didn't think we'd be in this position."

That is what is different about this version of the Ducks. They didn't get to lollygag in first place from start to finish this season as is normally their way -- they had to go into survival mode after a brutal opening half and rather incredibly win the Pacific Division by the end of it.

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