Ducks take commanding 3-1 lead

On Monday night, the Ducks defeated the Sens 3-2 to take a 3-1 Stanley Cup Finals lead. Game five will be Wednesday night afternoon in Anaheim. Like Carolina last year, the Ducks will have three chances to finish this thing, and potentially two of them will be at home.

I don't think it will go that far.

Ray Emery was not good tonight. He made one or two good saves, but he didn't look sharp. He didn't have to be in the first period, as the Ducks only mustered two shots on goal. The rest of the game, he looked shaky, even bad. Several times, he got help from the crossbar or the posts.

Anaheim played well despite having their best defenseman in the press box. Pronger will be back on Wednesday, and the home crowd will be fired up.

There is a good chance that Ottawa will be without the services of their captain on Wednesday. At the close of the second period, Daniel Alfredsson fired a shot directly at Scott Niedermayer, who was NOT between Alfie and the goal. It looked pretty deliberate, and the commentators seemed pretty disgusted by it.
The play went unpenalized, but it will be reviewed by the League, and I guess they'll issue a one game suspension.

This. Is. Over.

Even if the Sens can pull out a victory in Anaheim, AND force a game seven, I just don't think they're good enough. For the third straight season, the Cup will go to a team from a "non-traditional" market, a sunny and warm place.