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ANAHEIM -- The day before Calgary and Anaheim hooked up for Game 1 of what has amounted to a dead heat so far, Ryan Getzlaf smiled when asked about facing Dion Phaneuf for the third time in four playoffs.
"I can't seem to get rid of the guy," chuckled the former Hitmen forward of the former Red Deer Rebel.
Funny, as he sure didn't seem to have any problems leaving the Flames defenceman in his dust last night to start a 120-ft. breakaway duly converted into his first NHL playoff goal.
Putting a sweet move on Miikka Kiprusoff before banking the puck off the post for the game-opening salvo, Getzlaf helped kick-start an effort that managed to square the series at 2-2 with a 3-2 overtime win.
Although Sean O'Donnell was the one who played the hero with an overtime blast that squeezed through Kiprusoff's pads, it was, in many ways, Getzlaf's night.
The OT hero agrees.
"Everyone knows he has great hands but I didn't know he could take off like that," said O'Donnell of Getzlaf's dash. "He's a big guy and I thought he'd be squeezed out at centre ice."
Suffice it to say Getzlaf, the third star of last night's game, won't be well received upon his return tomorrow to the 'Dome, where he dazzled for four years.
"My friends better be cheering for me," said Getzlaf, unaware of the whereabouts of the puck commemorating his milestone moment. "I got the chance to step up tonight and I did that. It's a good feeling."
As if his opening goal wasn't enough, the man used alongside Scott Niedermayer to anchor the powerplay later added to his second-period brilliance with a beauty of a dangle to gain the zone on a play that led seconds later to a goal which put the Ducks up 2-0 after two periods.
Just 61 games into his NHL career, it's safe to say the kid who captained Calgary for the final spin of his four years as a Hitmen has now hit the big time. And he did it on a night almost ruined by the major league Captain Calgary, Jarome Iginla, whose two third-period goals sent it to extra time.
Fitting, too, the biggest night of his career came opposite Phaneuf, who continually pushed the 20-year-old Regina native to greater heights. (Two nights earlier, he pushed him into his first NHL fight.)
"I didn't see who it was I skated by -- all I saw was that they were wide, so I put my head down and went," said Getzlaf.
"This is the biggest game of my career but every game from now on is. I'm playing in the Stanley Cup playoffs and we want to see how far we can take this."
At least to six games anyways, thanks to him.
Long before he shone in last night's crucial win, Getzlaf was drawing praise from teammates such as Francois Beauchemin, who said despite his two point blasts by Kiprusoff in Game 3, Getzlaf had the hardest shot on the team. In Game 1, Getzlaf suckered Iginla into an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty with incessant jawing after a scrum. Last night, he was also one of the team's best penalty killers, too.
"He was great tonight -- so full of confidence," said O'Donnell of Getzlaf. "He got it all started for us tonight."
By no means is he rid of Phaneuf just yet. But given the alternative, that's just fine with Getzlaf.