Ducks Not Exactly Fittest but Survive

They dominated, they wobbled and they were bent backward, but the Mighty Ducks never broke. And now they are tied.

The Ducks took the air out of a rabid Pengrowth Saddledome crowd Sunday night with three consecutive goals and also did their best to charge it back up by nearly blowing two leads.

In the end, they managed to stay upright for a 4-3 victory that evened the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series at a game apiece as it shifts back to Anaheim for Games 3 and 4 starting Tuesday.

Nothing was certain from the moment goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere came out in uniform for the pregame warmup to the final seconds when he secured Matthew Lombardi’s shot in his chest. But the Ducks survived and headed to the airport with home-ice advantage.

“It’s one game and it’s one win,” Giguere said. “Now it’s a best out of five. We should be happy with the big win.”

The day began with a good vibe for the Ducks as Giguere took part in the morning skate after missing Game 1 because of a lower-body injury. By midday, he pronounced himself fit and Coach Randy Carlyle got the official approval from the medical and training staff.

“In warmup, I felt really good and that gave me a lot of confidence,” said Giguere, who made 22 saves. “From then on, I just told myself, ‘Don’t even think about it. If anything happens, it happens. Just focus on your game.’ ”

The Ducks took the good news and ran with it. They punched a hole in the Flames’ usually airtight defense and made standout goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff look human by scoring the first three goals of the game in five shots.

Chris Kunitz started it in the first period when he tapped in a loose puck on a scramble in front of Kiprusoff as Francois Beauchemin threw it toward the net. Scott Niedermayer then changed the game’s tone with a brilliant play midway through the period.

After Todd Marchant blocked a shot on a Flame power play, Niedermayer poked the puck away from Lombardi near the blue line and streaked in on a breakaway. The Duck captain got Kiprusoff to commit and he tucked the puck between his pads for a 2-0 lead.

“In big games, he has the ability to elevate his game,” Carlyle said. “He does all the things that are necessary to provide you with leadership. He’s a superstar.”

Calgary Coach Darryl Sutter was also impressed.

“He pushes [the puck] so hard that he gets a breakaway,” Sutter said. “It’s just a great, great play.”

The Ducks continued to feed off the momentum. Joffrey Lupul made it 3-0 in the second when he finished a two-on-one with Teemu Selanne by ripping a wrist shot by Kiprusoff.

“When we get those opportunities, we have to make sure they count,” Lupul said.

The victory wasn’t without its hairy moments. The Ducks took repeated penalties in a tightly-officiated game and set the Flames up with 12 power-play chances.

The Ducks also botched a second-period advantage of their own and let Flame captain Jarome Iginla get loose for a short-handed goal to start a rally. Kristian Huselius made it 3-2 when he spun the Ducks’ Sean O’Donnell around and tucked the puck past Giguere for a power-play goal.

“It’s going to be like this the whole series,” Giguere said. “Calgary is not going to give us anything. We’re going to have to work to get anything we get.”

That work ethic took greater importance when Samuel Pahlsson scored an insurance goal at 7:55 of the third on an odd-man rush with Marchant after Jonathan Hedstrom got the puck off the boards to the speedy center.

“Heddy makes an unbelievable play,” Marchant said. “It looks like such a simple play. He just chipped the puck out, but if that doesn’t get out, we don’t get the fourth goal and maybe it’s a different game.”

Dion Phaneuf, the Flames’ impressive rookie defenseman, cut the lead back to one with a power-play goal at 15:31 of the third. The Ducks nearly committed a fatal mistake when Hedstrom tripped Byron Ritchie, who was trying to get to a rebound left by Giguere in front of the net.

Hedstrom was called for the hooking penalty, but no penalty shot was awarded. The Ducks killed off the man advantage, one of 10 they endured.

Again, they survived.

“After a big win like this, how can you not feel good?” Giguere said.