Prior to the season, the Ducks had been the pick of many in the media to make it to the Finals, and they did not disappoint. The second-seeded Anaheim Ducks defeated both the Minnesota Wild and Vancouver Canucks in five games before defeating the Detroit Red Wings in six games in the Western Conference Finals. The Ducks had the most penalties out of any team during the post-season and had one suspension going into the finals, but had a top penalty-kill percentage. They were led by two Norris Trophy candidates Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger, the scoring touches of Andy McDonald, Teemu Selanne, Ryan Getzlaf, and the goaltending of Jean-Sebastien Giguere. The Ducks were looking to shut down Ottawa’s offense with the checking line of Rob Niedermayer, Samuel Pahlsson and Travis Moen, and overall team defence.
Anaheim had home ice advantage for the series, as they finished the regular season with 110 points to Ottawa’s 105. The attention leading into the finals was Ottawa being “Canada’s Team” despite Anaheim having five more Canadian skaters than the Senators. Many fans were saying that the Stanley Cup needed to be brought back to Canada after a 14 year drought (up to that point, the last time a Canadian team hoisted the Stanley Cup was done by the 1993 Montreal Canadiens, who defeated the Los Angeles Kings).
