from Lance Pugmire of the LA Times,

Ryan Getzlaf painted his Ducks teammates into a corner by refusing to admit the Chicago Blackhawks were the better team after winning the Western Conference finals.

By not accepting that the Ducks were beaten by a superior franchise positioned to win its third Stanley Cup in six seasons, Getzlaf brings attention to why his team squandered a 3-2 playoff series lead and lost Game 7 at home for an unprecedented third consecutive season.

If the reason wasn't the Blackhawks' talent — center Jonathan Toews scored four goals in the last three games, defenseman Duncan Keith had five assists in the final two and forward Patrick Kane closed with a goal and four assists in Games 6 and 7 — then the focus shifts to why the Ducks shrink in hockey's most pressurized games....

After saying he played "terrible" with a minus-three rating in Game 6, Getzlaf was minus-one with two giveaways in Game 7 while right wing Corey Perry matched those figures with a late third-period goal that was answered less than two minutes later by the Blackhawks' dagger.

Perry declined to speak to reporters after the loss.

Getzlaf admitted of Game 6, "We weren't really mentally prepared to play that game," and lamented after Game 7, "they started stronger than us."

The question to both statements is why.

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