All game long, Patrick Eaves went to the net to absorb the punishment players take when they venture into hockey’s hard-hat area.
Then Eaves went back in there for more abuse, and it was a microcosm of the sudden, newfound determination by the Ducks in the second half of Tuesday’s game.
Hockey karma repaid Eaves kindly.
He scored the only goal in the shootout, a snapshot in the fifth round that beat Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne for a 4-3 win at Honda Center.
“I’m usually a later-round shooter,” Eaves said.