from Eric Stephens of the OC Register,

Relief and joy do not have much shelf life in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The only time it does is when the silver chalice itself gets passed around from teammate to teammate.

The hurdle that Game 7 had become for the Ducks has finally been cleared. Smiles finally followed one. But all that Wednesday’s win over Edmonton did was lead them to another hurdle, maybe one that’s even tougher to scale and soar past. And it is one they know all too well.

Nashville is the opponent now. The team that handed the Ducks an unceremonious early exit from the 2016 playoffs and ushered a coaching change now stands in the way of them playing for the Cup for the first time since making it theirs a decade ago.

It never hurts for the playoff stew to have a dash of revenge mixed in.

“Yeah,” Ducks center Ryan Kesler said. “Obviously it’s a new year, new teams. For some of us, it means a little bit more. But we’re all playing for the same thing, and right now it’s about getting four wins before they do. And it’s going to be a tough road, but we’re up to it.”

The Predators meandered a bit to this point but the postseason has seen them become the team many made a sexy pick to come out of the Western Conference. Their take-notice sweep of Chicago in the first round opened a lot of eyes. It made them a believable Cup contender.

A solid six-game takedown of St. Louis made them a real one. Now they’re in the conference final for the first time in their 19-year history, with Game 1 on Friday night at Honda Center – a place that elicits no fear in them.

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