Tough task ahead

Ducks need to keep home trend alive, then win on the road

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- The Anaheim Mighty Ducks have one advantage going into a win-or-else Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals, and it's meant everything so far in the series.

The home-ice advantage.

Three Stars      SI.com's Jon A. Dolezar gives you his three stars of the Devils' Game 5 win.  Analysis and Opinion  • Darren Eliot: Defenses go AWOL More Stories  • Game 5: Recap | Box Score • Devils pick up sluggish Brodeur • Early goal not enough for Ducks • Pandolfo thought goal would count • Ducks need win in Jersey eventually • First-period offers scoring frenzy • Notes: Home teams remain perfect • Line Analysis: Mighty Ducks | Devils • Goalie Analysis: Giguere | Brodeur  Instant Poll  Who has been the most important player for the Devils in the series? Martin Brodeur Patrik Elias Jeff Friesen Brian Gionta Jamie Langenbrunner Scott Niedermayer View Results

The New Jersey Devils made it 5-for-5 for home teams, turning some timely hops and fortunate breaks into a 6-3 victory in Game 5 Thursday night that left them a victory away from raising the Cup.

But to avoid going to Game 7, in which history shows anything can happen, the Devils must win in Anaheim on Saturday night. So far, that's been as difficult for them as winning in New Jersey has been for the Ducks, who have been outscored 12-3 in three losses there.

"We're not frustrated at all. We're down 3-2 and we're going home where we've been real good," forward Steve Thomas said. "We're a pretty comfortable bunch of guys. We have to go back home, win a hockey game and come back here."

Not that returning to New Jersey would seem to be an appealing proposition, given how the Devils scored twice Thursday without taking a shot. A puck bounced off Ducks forward Mike Leclerc's stick and past goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere, and another deflected off Devils forward Jay Pandolfo's skate and into the net.

"We scored three goals and that should be enough to win in the playoffs," Giguere said. "We don't need to change anything, we don't need to adjust anything. We just need to do what we do."

What they did in their two overtime wins in Anaheim was control the puck, take the play to the Devils and rely on Giguere's superlative goaltending. They did none of that in Game 5, and the result was a score -- and a type of game -- that coach Mike Babcock certainly didn't expect to see.

And certainly doesn't want to see in Game 6.

"We thought we were really prepared," Babcock said. "We thought we got off to a good start. ... [But] they got a lot of good breaks tonight."

The Ducks did something in the first minute they couldn't do in 120 minutes on the Devils' ice: score. In the first four games, the winning team always scored the first goal, and it appeared that Petr Sykora's goal with only 42 seconds gone preserved the momentum the Ducks built in their two tightly played overtime victories in Anaheim.

But the lead vanished when Pascal Rheaume answered for the Devils about three minutes later, and it was 2-2 by the end of the first period -- a turnaround from the first four games, when no goals were scored in the opening period.

But the Ducks didn't seem comfortable in an up-and-down, free-skating game in which there were more good scoring chances than in the first four games combined, and it began to show.

The Devils took the lead for good on their two lucky-bounce goals in the second period and Jamie Langenbrunner added two goals in the third period.

"We're disappointed with the way we played. Six goals in a playoff game is embarrassing," said Paul Kariya, who has yet to score in the series. "We have to bounce back. It's not our style of game and we're not going to have any success like that."

The Ducks want to get back to playing at home the way they did in Games 3 and 4, then return to New Jersey for Game 7 Monday and get the road win they've known all along they must have to win the Stanley Cup.

"They outwilled us and outworked us," Steve Rucchin said. "We expect to be the harder working team in Game 6."

 

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