Carter was a scratch in the series' first three games but had a goal an an assist in the last three. Check out the note on Carter in today's Los Angeles Times. Here's a snippet:
Staying ready was easy for Ducks center Ryan Carter. Staying ready and not hurting anyone was the trick.
Carter sat out the first three games against the Sharks, but made sure he was prepared if the call came. He has played the last two, scoring a goal that got the Ducks started in a 3-2 overtime loss in Game 5.
"You have to mentally challenge yourself in practice," the 25-year-old Carter said about his preparation the first three games. "That's your game. You skate hard, you back-check hard. You can't play physical, but you put yourself in the position where you could be physical."
Carter said the line between being physical and being prepared to be physical is easy to toe.
"You watch [Ducks defenseman] Scott Niedermayer," Carter said. "He's not a real physical player but knows how to be in position so he can be. That's the challenge. It's enough to know you could have rubbed someone out or had the opportunity to deliver a hit."
Remembering how to deliver the blow seemed to come back to Carter pretty quickly. He had three hits in 7 minutes 52 seconds of ice time in Game 4.
"You always want to give a player the opportunity," Coach Randy Carlyle said. "What's good to see is when the player sees he's getting that chance and goes out there with everything he has. That's a tribute to the player."
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