Remember when everyone wrote off the Anaheim Ducks? Remember when they were in the middle of that brutal nine-game losing streak and people were already talking about the draft lottery? Well, these kids didn't get the memo.
The Ducks completed their ninth multi-goal comeback victory of the season - four more than any other NHL team - with a thrilling overtime win against the Winnipeg Jets. Let me say that again: nine multi-goal comebacks. That's not luck, folks. That's character.
Since snapping that nine-game skid, Anaheim has gone 13-2. Thirteen and two. The Ducks are now the comeback kids of the NHL, and in a league where tanking has become fashionable, this team refuses to quit.
Ryan Poehling scored a highlight-reel goal late in the third to give them the lead, going 1-on-3, splitting the defense, and beating Connor Hellebuyck - one of the best goalies in the league. Then in overtime, Beckett Sennecke led a rush and set up Chris Kreider for an easy tap-in with just 12.3 seconds left.
That's the kind of resilience you can't teach. You either have it or you don't. And the Ducks have it in spades.
I love this story because it goes against everything we've been conditioned to accept about modern sports. Teams are supposed to fold when things get tough. They're supposed to mail it in for better draft position. They're supposed to think about next year instead of fighting for this year.
Not these Ducks. They're scratching and clawing for every point, coming back from deficits that would sink most teams, and building something special in the process. Nine multi-goal comebacks is absurd. That's nearly 20% of their games this season where they've been down by multiple goals and fought all the way back to win.
This is the kind of team that's dangerous in the playoffs - if they make it. Because you can't intimidate a team that refuses to quit. You can't break the spirit of players who've already proven they can come back from anything.
That's what sports is all about, folks - fighting until the final buzzer and believing you can win no matter what the scoreboard says. The Ducks are living proof.
