It wasn't the most significant defeat of Ryan Kesler's NHL or international career, but the veteran Anaheim Ducks forward says losing Game 6 of the Western Conference Final to the Nashville Predators was the most difficult.
"This was the toughest loss of my career," Kesler told reporters Thursday at the Ducks' final media session of the season. "This stings. It still stings. We left everything out there."
Kesler struggled in the series as a whole, collecting one point in six games, and he was on the ice for four more goals against than goals for in Game 6.
Still, the 32-year-old has endured several losses that one would expect to cut deeper than Monday night's elimination at the hands of the Predators, including Game 7 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final as a member of the Vancouver Canucks and Team USA's gold-medal game disappointment at the Olympics in 2010.
Ducks defenseman Kevin Bieksa echoed Kesler's sentiment Thursday, calling their Game 6 loss the toughest of his career despite the fact that he was also Kesler's teammate on a Canucks squad that came one win short of winning a championship.
Whether it's a case of recency bias or simply a sense of urgency because neither Kesler, 32, nor Bieksa, 35, has ever won the Cup, it's clear the pain of this particular loss is still lingering.
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