Giguere Can’t Do It All, but He Gets Ducks a Tie

If Wednesday marked the end of an era, if Guy Hebert has indeed handed the torch to Jean-Sebastien Giguere, then it was evident the Mighty Ducks’ goaltending duties are in capable hands.

Giguere was superb in his first start since Coach Guy Charron anointed him the Ducks’ No. 1 goalie earlier this week. Giguere made 37 saves in the Ducks’ 3-3 tie against the Edmonton Oilers before an announced crowd of 11,307 at the Arrowhead Pond.

“The more he plays, the more confidence he gets,” Charron said of the 23-year-old Giguere. “Hopefully, we’ll find a way to get him a few wins and he’ll gain more confidence.”

The trouble with the Ducks certainly was not in net, but several feet in front of Giguere, where defensive breakdowns led to all three Edmonton goals.

Mike Grier, in the first period, Daniel Cleary, in the second, and Sergei Zholtok, in the third, capitalized on Duck lapses in front of Giguere. None of the three could be termed soft goals. Grier and Cleary scored on breakaways. Zholtok scored after Cleary beat defenseman Jason Marshall down the center of the ice and left a pass for his trailing teammate.

Marty McInnis (power play), Teemu Selanne and Mike Leclerc scored for the Ducks, who are winless in 11 consecutive games at the Pond (0-8-3).

Leclerc gloved a high rebound off Edmonton goalie Tommy Salo, dropped the puck to the ice and slammed it home for the tying goal with 1:06 left in the third period. Giguere was on the bench in favor of a sixth skater when defenseman Mike Crowley sent a shot from the left point toward the net.

Salo couldn’t handle the shot and Leclerc potted the rebound, the second time in as many games that he scored the tying goal for the Ducks. He deflected center Matt Cullen’s shot from the right wing for the tying goal in Sunday’s 2-2 tie with the Carolina Hurricanes.

“I got lucky,” Leclerc said of Wednesday’s tying goal. “I thought ‘Cully’ was going to get to it before me and it would have been a glove to stick [pass].”

And a whistle and no goal for the Ducks because of a hand pass from Leclerc to Cullen. But that’s assuming either Kevin Maguire or Brad Meier, Wednesday’s referees, had a clear view of the mad scramble in front of Salo.

“We were having trouble getting our shots,” Leclerc said of the Ducks’ attempts to rally from a 3-2 deficit in the third period. “They were in our faces. But we stayed patient and went to the net. Whatever difference I can make right now is going to give me more confidence.”

The same can be said of Giguere, who has been given the top goalie spot and asked to show the organization his stuff. Hebert, 34, the last original Duck, has pledged his support to Giguere.

“Guy has been great,” Giguere said. “He always talks to me before games about the other teams. He’s been giving me tips. So far, he’s been great.”

With the Ducks sitting in last place in the Western Conference, Charron’s decision to go with Giguere over Hebert wasn’t unexpected, according to Selanne.

“Everybody knew at some point they had to bring the young goalie in,” Selanne said. “He’s been great. He’s playing with confidence. It’s great to see how hungry he is. It’s a good sign.”

The Oilers outshot the Ducks by a whopping 40-22, and had perhaps twice as many quality scoring chances as Anaheim. But Giguere turned them away repeatedly.

Defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky’s bad pinch led to a textbook breakout pass from Rem Murray to Grier, setting up a short-handed breakaway goal with 2:01 left in the first period.

In the second period, defenseman Vitaly Vishnevski went for a big hit in the neutral zone, giving Mike Comrie a chance to find an open Cleary on left wing for a breakaway and a 2-1 Edmonton lead at 6:10.