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Disappearing defense Mighty Ducks' undefeated streak when scoring first endsPosted: Thursday June 05, 2003 11:22 PMUpdated: Friday June 06, 2003 1:59 AM
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- Scoring early and often wasn't enough for the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. Just when they found their offense, their defense went missing. Anaheim was shut out in the first two games of the Stanley Cup finals in New Jersey but reversed that trend early Thursday night. The added scoring didn't help, and the Ducks lost 6-3 to the Devils in Game 5. "We're disappointed with the way we played," captain Paul Kariya said. "Six goals in a playoff game is embarrassing." The Ducks are 0-3 on the road in the series, but won Games 3 and 4 at home. That's where they'll be Saturday night, down 3-2 in the best-of-seven series. They need a win to force a deciding game back in New Jersey on Monday. Nothing seems to go right for the Ducks in New Jersey, where they are 0-9 against the Devils since Feb. 11, 1996. Anaheim allowed goals in all kinds of ways, including one off a Devils skate, and another that deflected in off the stick of Ducks forward Mike Leclerc.
But their start Thursday couldn't have gone better. Petr Sykora scored just 42 seconds in to give Anaheim the all-important 1-0 lead, an advantage that meant victory the 10 previous times the Ducks took it this postseason. Giguere was not sharp, turning in his worst career postseason performance. He had allowed a high of three goals on three previous occasions this year. "Obviously it wasn't our best game defensively," said Giguere, who made 31 saves. The Devils took a 2-1 lead when Pascal Rheaume and Patrik Elias scored 3:10 apart in the first period. Anaheim tied it when Steve Rucchin finished off a three-way passing play started by Kariya and Sykora. Kariya, the Ducks' leading scorer in the regular season, earned his first point of the series. Sykora, their top goal scorer, also had no points in the first four games. "Our first two lines haven't been playing well all series," Kariya said. "We need a lot more from us to win." At the end of the first period, the score was tied 2-2. Before this game, neither team had broken through for a goal in the opening 20 minutes of any contest. And that had been fine for the Ducks, who like the Devils stress defense first. Anaheim's plan is to stay close and play overtime if necessary. That's when the Ducks are at their best, going 7-0 when extra time is needed. Yet Anaheim didn't sit back in this one. They had 11 shots in the first period, five fewer than they had overall in each of the opening two losses. The game was wide open and New Jersey took full advantage. "We have to bounce back," Kariya said. "It's not our style of game and we're not going to have any success like that." New Jersey scored first in the second period when Brian Gionta gave New Jersey a 3-2 lead. Samuel Pahlsson retied it at 6:35, but that was the last time the Ducks were even. "They outwilled us and outworked us," Rucchin said. "We expect to be the harder working team in Game 6." |
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