Ducks Look Sharp in 1-0 Victory

Mighty Duck Coach Randy Carlyle is fond of saying that his goaltenders are only expected to give the team a chance at victory and shouldn’t be counted on to win games.

While Jean-Sebastien Giguere didn’t exactly stand on his head Saturday night against the Florida Panthers, he stopped everything he handled and the Ducks supported him with a strong defensive effort in a 1-0 victory at the Arrowhead Pond.

Giguere made 30 saves to notch his 20th shutout and his first since March 3, 2004 against Minnesota. The Ducks (21-16-9) also got another goal from Chris Kunitz as they pulled within five points of eighth-place Edmonton in the Western Conference.

They also managed to earn a point for the fifth consecutive game entering their fourth game against the Kings, whom they play Monday at Staples Center.

“I thought it was the whole team,” said Giguere, downplaying his performance. “It was one of those games where we had to grind. Guys were a little tired from the road trip and we came in late the other day.

“I thought we came out with a good effort and we did enough for the win.”

They also appeared to heed the lessons learned from an overtime loss Monday at Boston in which they gave up three goals on odd-man rushes. Most of Florida’s shots came at sharp angles and the Ducks cleared the few rebounds Giguere gave up.

“When we’re playing good defense, the goalies see the first shot and there’s not too many second chances,” defenseman Keith Carney said.

“I like our chances with Jiggy in goal and [Ilya Bryzgalov] back there.”

Kunitz needed only 29 seconds to continue his recent scoring binge as he knocked in a rebound of a deflected shot by Ruslan Salei past Panther goalie Roberto Luongo. Salei’s assist gave the veteran stay-at-home defenseman his 100th career point.

The goal was the 10th of the season and third in the last three games for the undrafted Kunitz, who has become a fixture in the lineup. Kunitz has 14 points in 25 games since his recall from minor league Portland on Nov. 21.

“It comes from being more comfortable out there and having confidence,” Kunitz said. “You want to do what you can every night to stay where you are.”

Little did they know that would be the only goal.

Luongo, who was burned for five power-play goals Thursday in a 6-3 loss to Phoenix, looked more like the goaltender that will represent Canada at the Winter Olympics next month. He stopped 30 shots, including one by Teemu Selanne on a two-on-one rush with Andy McDonald.

“You never think a goal scored in the first minute is going to carry you through the hockey game,” Carlyle said. “But we were fortunate to get one early and it turned out to be the game-winner.”

Although he didn’t face nearly the quality of scoring chances, Giguere made his biggest saves in the third with consecutive stops on Martin Gelinas and Joe Nieuwendyk to keep the shutout intact.

There was a scary moment early in the third when Florida center Gregory Campbell was knocked on his back by a check by defenseman Vitaly Vishnevski.

Campbell laid motionless on the ice for a couple of moments before being helped off the ice by teammates. He did not return.