The Anaheim Ducks have wielded center Ryan Kesler as a shutdown guy against top players all playoffs. And it’s worked: Kesler has shut down opponents like Sean Monahan and Connor McDavid in successive rounds.
Predators’ Ryan Johansen wonders ‘how you can cheer for’ Ducks’ Ryan Kesler
The Ducks center is tormenting Johansen this series.
Photo by Harry How/Getty Images
Now his task is to shadow Predators center Ryan Johansen every shift. And the two really got into it in Game 2:
Johansen might’ve smiled at the end of that clip, but Kesler is clearly on his mind. After the Ducks won Game 2, Johansen had this to say about his Ducks foe.
“He just blows my mind,” Johansen said. “I don’t know what’s going through his head out there. His family and friends watching him play ... I don’t know how you can cheer for a guy like that. It just does’t make sense how he plays the game. I’m just trying to go out there and play hockey and it sucks when you have to pull a stick out of your groin every shift.”
More than a few players got tangled up in rough plays last night. At one point, a Predators player speared a Ducks player in the groin, Corey Perry tripped a few guys and landed some big hits, and goalies were fighting to find pucks through net-front scrums. The Western Conference Final is already as tense as can be.
See More:
