Ducks Clinch Playoff Spot With 4-2 Win

There may never be another time when Jean-Sebastien Giguere puts the Mighty Ducks on his back for an entire postseason, but they will find out what is possible after a performance that brought back sweet memories.

In a game the Ducks wanted and the Vancouver Canucks needed, Giguere recalled his amazing playoff run three years ago with a sterling performance in goal to secure a 4-2 victory Monday night that clinched a spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The postseason berth is the fourth in the club’s 12-year history and washed away the remnants of a disappointing follow-up to its 2003 run to the Cup that ended one game short of its first championship.

It is also a reward for the team’s work over the past several months. The Ducks (42-24-12) became the fourth team to make the playoffs when trailing by eight points or more after Jan. 1.

The two points gave them 23-8-5 record since Jan. 13 and their 96 points also established a new club record while pushing them four points ahead of the Colorado Avalanche in the race for fifth place.

“We know we’re in the playoffs so now we can put that aside,” Giguere said. “We can work on trying to get position and work on getting ready for the playoffs. That’s big for us because we’ve worked all year long just to get to those playoffs and now we’re in it.

“It’s fun but it doesn’t mean we can relax.”

Giguere certainly couldn’t against a determined Canuck team that is fighting for its playoff life. The veteran goaltender turned into a brick wall when it mattered most.

Vancouver peppered him for 41 shots, 21 of them coming in an overwhelming second period. But the Canucks could only manage power-play goals by Ryan Kesler and Anson Carter -- both coming after the Ducks had a four-goal lead.

“I just think he saved the day,” defenseman Ruslan Salei said of Giguere. “We relied on him pretty much the whole game and he came up big. That’s why we have a goalie, so he can stop the puck.”

After Daniel Sedin nearly put the Canucks on the scoreboard on the game’s first shift, Scott Niedermayer scored on a wrist shot 35 seconds into the game to trigger a three-goal first period for the Ducks, despite having only seven shots.

Niedermayer’s goal stunned the Canucks and successive goals by Rob Niedermayer and Andy McDonald took the life out of a sellout crowd at General Motors Place. Vancouver remained in ninth place, two points behind Edmonton for the final playoff spot.

“It was nice to get that lead,” said Niedermayer, who missed the playoffs once during 12 seasons in New Jersey. “We could have responded better once we had it. But we hung in there and Jiggy played excellent for us.

“He really kept us in there. We’ll take wins any way we can get them.”

The Canucks’ desperation was evident from the moment they decided to don their blue retro uniforms from the 1970s. They weren’t scheduled to wear them after January but brought them out of storage Saturday against Calgary and haven’t lost in four games with them.

It was also evident in the play on the ice. The Ducks managed three shots in the second period and 18 for the game.

But they took a 3-0 lead into the second and built on it with some good fortune from a former teammate. Teemu Selanne got a pass from Chris Kunitz in the offensive zone and tried to send one back to a crashing McDonald.

The puck instead deflected off a backchecking Keith Carney and past Vancouver goalie Alex Auld into the net for Selanne’s team-high 39th goal. Carney was traded by the Ducks at the March 9 deadline.

Duck Coach Randy Carlyle savored the win but cautioned that they won’t lift off the accelerator in the final four games of the regular season.

“It’s gratifying in the sense that our players have worked extremely hard for a common goal for the organization,” Carlyle said.

They’ll also hope that they are getting the same Giguere that caught fire in their last postseason appearance.

“It’s a different time, different year,” Salei said. “Hopefully he will be as hot as he was then. That’s all we can hope for.”