Jean-Sebastien Giguere and the Anaheim Ducks held off the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday to earn a second trip to the Stanley Cup finals.
Giguere shut out Detroit for the first two periods as Anaheim built a 3-0 lead, then withstood a three-goal outburst by the Red Wings in the closing period to take a 4-3 victory. Samuel Pahlsson's goal with 14:06 remaining proved to be the difference for Anaheim, which meets Ottawa in the Stanley Cup finals.
Rob Niedermayer, Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf also scored against Detroit goalie Dominik Hasek as the Ducks downed the Red Wings to take the Western Conference finals 4-2.
PHOTO: REUTERS
"You know it's not easy. I won't be there when I'm his age, for sure. But I really see it as the Ducks beat the Red Wings. It's not about the goalies," Giguere said. "In fact there were a lot of goals [15 given up by each goalie] in this series.
The Ducks and Senators, both looking for their first NHL championship, meet in Game 1 Monday night in Anaheim.
Giguere finished with 26 saves. Hasek had 25.
The Red Wings outshot the Ducks 16-3 in the third period and got one goal from Henrik Zetterberg and two -- both on power plays -- from Pavel Datsyuk, the last with 3:04 remaining.
The Ducks played for the Stanley Cup in 2003, when New Jersey defeated them in Game 7. Giguere was the MVP of the playoffs.
He is one of only four players remaining from that Anaheim team, which also has had a change of owners, front-office personnel and coaches. Niedermayer, who had a goal and assist in the clincher against Detroit; Andy McDonald and Pahlsson are the only others still with the Ducks.
The team also dropped the "Mighty" from their name after Henry and Susan Samueli bought the franchise from the Walt Disney Co in June 2005. The coach in 2003, Mike Babcock, is now the Detroit coach, and Randy Carlyle is the Ducks' coach.
Two of Detroit's third-period goals against Giguere came on deflections, including Datsyuk's score with 9:52 left.
The Ducks scored once against Hasek on a deflection, and the other three on rebounds.
Getzlaf made it 3-0 on a power play at 18:33 of the second, scoring on a goalmouth scramble after the Red Wings were assessed a bench minor for having too many men on the ice.
Niedermayer scored a short-handed goal on a deflection 3:51 into the game. Perry gave Anaheim a two-goal lead when he tapped in a rebound midway through the second period.
The teams split the opening two games in Detroit and the next two in Anaheim. The Ducks took a 2-1 victory in Game 5 in Detroit after Scott Niedermayer tied it with a goal with 48 seconds left in regulation, and Teemu Selanne won it with his goal in overtime.
The Red Wings last played in the Stanley Cup finals in 2002, when they defeated Carolina. The following season, the Ducks swept the Red Wings in the opening round of the playoffs.
The second game of the Stanley Cup finals will be in Anaheim next Wednesday, then the series shifts to Ottawa for Games 3 and 4 on June 2 and June 4.
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