Ducks vs Blackhawks

ANAHEIM -- Joel Quenneville prefers to balance his scoring lines, but the Chicago Blackhawks coach will opt for more horsepower at the top with one game left to decide the Western Conference Final.

The Blackhawks will start with right wing Patrick Kane playing next to center Jonathan Toews on the first line in Game 7 against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, TVA Sports).

"I know Game 5, later in the game, they had some shifts together and I thought they were dangerous, and I thought they were really good last game as well," Quenneville said Friday after practice. "We'll start them together and we'll work it out and see what happens."

ANAHEIM -- Almost exactly one year later, the Chicago Blackhawks still remember the sting from Los Angeles Kings defenseman Alec Martinez's goal that ended their bid to repeat as Stanley Cup champions.

They remember the fluttering shot from the point that found its way past goalie Corey Crawford. They remember the stunned silence inside United Center after Game 7 of the Western Conference Final ended at 5:47 of overtime. They remember the empty feeling of coming just short of playing the New York Rangers in the 2014 Stanley Cup Final.

It's a feeling they've tried to erase but will carry with them into Game 7 of the 2015 conference final against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, TVA Sports).

ANAHEIM – The Anaheim Ducks and Chicago Blackhawks have spent the past two weeks writing one of the most epic scripts ever authored in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The first six games of the Western Conference Final have been filled with unexpected plot twists, twists of fate, heroic efforts and the occasional appearance by a villain or two.

"For sure, it's been great," Anaheim captain Ryan Getzlaf said Friday. "We've had a blast with this series, this playoff in general. Going into Game 7], I think we were well aware these are two hockey teams that have a lot of top-end talent, right through the lineup. That's one thing we were definitely looking forward to, those matchups."

ANAHEIM -- Ryan Getzlaf has embraced the big stage since early in his professional career.

He won the Stanley Cup at 22 as the Anaheim Ducks' second-line center in 2007. He helped Canada win gold at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and successfully defend it at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

But there has been a lull in Stanley Cup Playoff success, and how Getzlaf responds in Game 7 of the Western Conference Final against the Chicago Blackhawks at Honda Center on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, TVA Sports) will be the latest chapter of his legacy and that of Anaheim's other cornerstone players.

Getzlaf is coming off probably his worst game of the playoffs, a 5-2 loss in Game 6. He was on the ice for three Chicago goals and lost 11 of 15 faceoffs. Afterward, he owned up to it.

"Anyone who read my quotes after the last game, I obviously wasn't happy with myself and the way that I carried myself throughout that game," Getzlaf said. "I've played in many big games. It's a matter of drawing back on things, and it's getting back to doing the things that we do well. That includes myself, going out there and just playing, not worrying so much about line matchups and where I am on the ice, those kind of things. It's just a matter of going out and playing and pushing things forward."

ANAHEIM -- The psychological aftermath of two Game 7s the past two years is not the favorite topic for the Anaheim Ducks, but they acknowledged the pain Thursday.

"You know," defenseman Francois Beauchemin said, "losing those last two Game 7s has been hard on everybody."

Left wing Andrew Cogliano said, "[The] last Game 7 took a toll on us."

Cogliano and Beauchemin went on to say the Ducks are a different team going into Game 7 of the Western Conference Final against the Chicago Blackhawks at Honda Center on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, TVA Sports).

NEW YORK -- The Anaheim Ducks and Chicago Blackhawks will decide the Western Conference Final in Game 7 Saturday night at Honda Center (8 p.m., ET, NBC, CBC, TVA). The winner will advance to the Stanley Cup Final and face the winner of the Eastern Conference Final, also tied 3-3, between the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning.

Both Conference Final series have extended to a Game 7 for just the second time during the NHL's expansion era (since 1967-68). In 2000, the New Jersey Devils defeated the Philadelphia Flyers to capture the Eastern Conference title, while the Dallas Stars topped the Colorado Avalanche to win Western Conference honors.

The Ducks-Blackhawks showdown will be the fifth Game 7 of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs and the 17th since the start of the 2013 postseason - the most frequently-occurring series length in that span (4 games: 5; 5 games: 9; 6 games: 13).

For additional insight into the Anaheim Ducks during the Western Conference Final, NHL.com has enlisted the help of Frederic Chabot to break down the action. Chabot will be checking in throughout the series.

Chabot was the goaltending coach for the Edmonton Oilers from 2009 to 2014. He played in the NHL for five seasons, spending time with the Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers and the Los Angeles Kings.

Part of the Anaheim Ducks' identity is using their size to play a physical, in-your-face brand of hockey. It begins with the Ducks' top forward line of Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Patrick Maroon, three players with an average size of 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds.

It's part of what helped the Ducks win the net-front battles against the Chicago Blackhawks through the first five games of the Western Conference Final. But in Game 6 on Wednesday it was the Blackhawks who flipped the script, according to Frederic Chabot, winning the battles in the trenches en route to a 5-2 win that evened the best-of-7 series at 3-3 and forced Game 7 on Saturday in Anaheim (8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, TVA Sports).

CHICAGO -- The marketing slogan for the Chicago Blackhawks for the past several seasons has been "One Goal."

The Blackhawks were one goal short of the reaching the 2014 Stanley Cup Final. They want to avoid that feeling again in 2015.

"I was on the left side. [Los Angeles Kings defenseman Alec] Martinez shot it from the other side and it got deflected and went in," Sharp said of the Kings' Western Conference Final-clinching overtime goal in Game 7 last season at United Center. "You could just feel the air kind of go out of the building. You feel your heart drop a little bit, being that close, and we had a couple leads in that game as well. Battling back from being down in that series to the Kings, it was a tough way to go out on home ice. You kind of learn from it and use it as hunger to get back to the same situation."

Chicago is back in Game 7 of a Western Conference Final after defeating the Anaheim Ducks in Game 6 on Wednesday. When the Blackhawks arrive at Honda Center for this series-deciding contest Saturday (8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, TVA Sports), they will be hoping to inflict the same pain the Kings delivered to them a year ago with a 5-4 loss.

For additional insight on the Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference Final, NHL.com has enlisted the help of Claude Noel to break down the action. Noel will be checking in throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Noel was coach for the Winnipeg Jets from 2011-14 and interim coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2009-10. He also coached many years in the minor leagues, including the American Hockey League. In addition, Noel, a former forward, had 138 points in 353 regular-season games in the AHL and played seven games in the NHL with Washington Capitals in 1979-80.

The defense of the Chicago Blackhawks proved too much for the Anaheim Ducks in a 5-2 victory in Game 6 of the Western Conference Final on Wednesday at United Center in Chicago.

CHICAGO -- Anaheim Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf was blunt and to the point about what went wrong in a 5-2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 6 of the Western Conference Final at United Center on Wednesday.

"It started with me," Getzlaf said. "I was terrible tonight and that's on me. I've got to be better and calm our group down as we go."

Getzlaf's line was on the ice for three of Chicago's five goals, but two of them were in the final four minutes of the third period. He was talking more about his play earlier in the game, which evened the best-of-7 series 3-3.