It’s nip and Ducks

Tremendously talented and yet flawed enough to worry the most ardent supporters, the Ducks were held to a high standard from the start of the season by themselves and many others outside the dressing room.

Nine months later, the standard has been officially met.

The Ducks bolted out to a three-goal lead after two periods and held their breath through a nervous third before finally conquering the Detroit Red Wings in six games with a 4-3 victory Tuesday night at the Honda Center to advance to their second Stanley Cup finals in four years.

Now armed with the Western Conference championship that eluded them last season, the Ducks will play host to the Ottawa Senators in Game 1 on Monday night.

“We were excited to try and get back here and give ourselves an opportunity to go further,” Scott Niedermayer said. “And that’s what we’ve done right now.”

The Ducks have played in a Game 6 five times in their postseason history and won every one. None were bigger than their 5-2 victory over New Jersey in the 2003 Stanley Cup finals that forced a seventh game. But this one may earn some votes.

Only five times have West Coast teams advanced to the NHL finals since the 1926 Victoria Cougars did it in the league’s prehistoric days. The Ducks have distinguished themselves by becoming the first California team to do it twice.

Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle said his team was focused on taking the next step after coming up short in this round last season against the Edmonton Oilers.

“We would not accept mediocrity,” Carlyle said. “And I think that’s where the step was taken.”

As soon as they traded for star defenseman Chris Pronger last July, the Ducks made their Stanley Cup intentions known. But it was an entire cast that delivered in the clincher.

Young stars-in-waiting Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry scored and veteran checkers Rob Niedermayer and Samuel Pahlsson again came big with timely goals. Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 26 saves as he outplayed the Red Wings’ Dominik Hasek.

All of it was needed as the Red Wings mounted a third-period rally helped by the Ducks’ penchant for taking penalties. After Pahlsson scored to make it 4-1, Pavel Datsyuk put in consecutive power-play goals and a raucous crowd of 17,380 grew nervous.

“Third period was a little scary,” Ducks center Todd Marchant said. “It seemed like anything we did, we got called on. I took a penalty, a tripping call. We got a hooking call.

“But you know what, we were able to stay with it.”

The Ducks did hold on as they killed a hooking penalty on Moen in the final three minutes. But they didn’t need any luck to finish off the Red Wings.

The Ducks were determined not to see this series head back to Detroit for a Game 7. Rob Niedermayer gave them the lead just 3:51 in the first as Pronger’s point shot deflected off his left leg as he put an effective screen on Hasek.

Instead of easing up in the second period, the Ducks kept up the pressure. Perry dug out a loose puck around the crease and gave them a 2-0 cushion with the rebound goal.

“We just had to keep working,” Perry said. “We believe in ourselves and when you believe in yourself, good things are going to happen.”

The Ducks then got their power play involved to put Detroit in a deep hole.

Scott Niedermayer took a shot from the point that bounced around in traffic in front of Hasek. Marchant dug around for the puck and managed to keep the play alive before Getzlaf picked it up and tucked it in.

It was another starring moment for the 22-year-old, who has been the Ducks’ best forward in the playoffs. Getzlaf has five goals and eight assists in 16 games.

“I thought we played well,” Getzlaf said. “We played confident out there.”

His nose busted up because of a wayward stick in the third period, Marchant nevertheless wore a big smile and tried to put his feelings into words.

“Elation,” Marchant said. “I’ve never had this feeling in my life. To look up at the clock and [Nicklas] Lidstrom had the puck at the red line with two seconds to go, knowing we were going to win the game. It’s an unbelievable feeling of joy.”

As a locker room overflowed with excitement over the achievement, Pronger remembered coming up one game short with Edmonton last season. And so he kept a laser-like focus on the ultimate prize, stating that “we haven’t done anything yet.”

“It’s not good enough for a lot of us to get there,” Pronger said. “We want to win.”

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eric.stephens@latimes.com