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Duck and cover Champs on verge of elimination after 2-1 loss to AnaheimPosted: Tuesday April 15, 2003 1:12 AMUpdated: Tuesday April 15, 2003 4:32 AM
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- Jean-Sebastien Giguere frustrated the Detroit Red Wings again as the Anaheim Mighty Ducks moved within one victory of sweeping the defending Stanley Cup champions. Giguere, brilliant so far in his first NHL playoff series, stopped 36 shots and Samuel Pahlsson and Stanislav Chistov scored as Anaheim beat the Red Wings 2-1 Monday night to take a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference series. The 25-year-old Giguere has stopped 133 of 137 shots in the three games of the series, including 63 saves in Anaheim's 2-1 triple-overtime win in Game 1. "He's been the difference in every game, the star of every game," Detroit coach Dave Lewis said. "It's no fluke. He's really played well."
Giguere stopped 33 shots in Game 3 before Tomas Holmstrom chipped in his own rebound with 6:16 left to end the Anaheim goalie's shutout bid. Giguere credited his teammates for the Ducks' win and their 3-0 lead. "Everybody in front of me has been playing very well, especially my six defensemen," he said. "I see every shot out there and they make sure they take the rebound away. "That was probably our best game of the series." Last year, the Red Wings came from a 2-0 deficit vs. Vancouver in the first round to the next four games and go to their third Stanley Cup title in six years. Detroit faces a considerably tougher challenge now -- only two other teams have come back to win series when down 3-0. Swept by Detroit in their only two previous trips to the postseason, the Ducks need a victory at home in Game 4 on Wednesday night to sweep the Red Wings. "Four is the measure, not three," Anaheim rookie coach Mike Babcock said. "It's always the toughest one, to put someone away. "They're proud, they're talented, they're veterans and they're not going to go away. We have to put them away." Lewis, a former Detroit assistant in his first year as head coach, seemed a bit shocked after the Red Wings lost again. "We have to win a hockey game. We have to find some magic, some breaks," Lewis said. Then he corrected himself, saying, "We have to make our magic, make our own breaks." The Detroit added the Red Wings simply need to put the puck past Giguere. "He's in a zone and we've got to get him out of that zone," Lewis said. "We'll stay the course. We need to make the plays to win the hockey game. We haven't done that yet." Holmstrom's goal, his first of the series, came when Nicklas Lidstrom flipped a pass to him from the middle of the Anaheim zone. Holmstrom, near the crease, controlled the puck, took a shot that Giguere deflected, then lofted the rebound back over the goalie's shoulder. The goal came six seconds after Pahlsson received a holding-the-stick penalty. But that was it for the Red Wings, who outshot the Ducks for the third game in a row, this time 37-26. Chistov scored with 18:16 remaining to give Anaheim a 2-0 margin after Detroit goalie Curtis Joseph came out of the net to clear a loose puck near the bottom of the left circle. Chistov beat Joseph to the puck, circled behind the net, and poked a shot that hit Detroit rookie Henrik Zetterberg's skate and went into the goal as Joseph slid across the crease trying to get back into position. The goal was Chistov's second of the playoffs. After a scoreless first period, Pahlsson gave Anaheim the lead with his first goal of the postseason, 2:31 into the second period. Pahlsson, skating in the left circle with defender Dmitri Bykov frantically trying to wrap him up from behind, took a half swing at the puck and it sailed over Joseph's right shoulder. A minute after Pahlsson's goal, Mathieu Dandenault appeared to tie the game with a slap shot from the left circle. But an instant before Dandenault got the shot off, the Red Wings were whistled for too many men on the ice. Giguere had a close call with 16 seconds left in the period when Brendan Shanahan banged a slap shot off the crossbar during a Detroit power play. The Ducks, who came into the league as an expansion franchise in 1993, are making their third postseason appearance. They lost four straight to Detroit in the second round in 1997, then also didn't win a game against the Red Wings during the first round in 1999. Notes: The only teams to come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a playoff series were the 1975 New York Islanders, who beat Pittsburgh in the quarterfinals; and Toronto, which beat Detroit in the 1942 Stanley Cup finals. ... The only team to win the Cup and be swept in the playoffs the following year was the 1952 Maple Leafs. They lost to eventual Cup winner Detroit in 1953. ... Anaheim RW Steve Thomas played in his 150th postseason game. He has 51 goals and 49 assists. Thomas, a 19-year veteran, has played more seasons without winning a Stanley Cup than any active player except Tampa Bay's Dave Andreychuk and Toronto's Phil Housley. Both Tampa Bay and Toronto are still in the playoffs. |
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