The onus is on the Ducks

This was the worst-case scenario for the Ducks.

The Vancouver Canucks, rejuvenated on Friday after resting for nearly two days, had the jump and verve they’d lacked when they lost the opening game of the teams’ second-round playoff series at the Honda Center.

Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo, yanked before the end of Game 1, was brilliant in Game 2. His acrobatic save on a breakaway by Teemu Selanne in the second period deserved its own highlight film, and it was not spoiled in the least when Travis Moen tapped in the rebound to tie the score at 1-1.

The Ducks themselves crossed the line that separates aggressiveness from stupidity, taking too many needless penalties that gave Vancouver five power plays and tired their penalty-killing unit.

For long stretches of the game they allowed Vancouver to control the tempo and maintain concerted pressure on goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere, contributing to the Canucks’ 49 shots. That’s the most an opponent has taken in the Ducks’ seven playoff games this spring.

They paid for all of those transgressions, allowing the Canucks to scratch out a 2-1 victory on a shot by former King Jeff Cowan that slipped between Giguere’s leg and the left post 7 minutes 49 seconds into the second overtime. For losing control of this game, for allowing the Canucks to return home for Games 3 and 4 on even footing, the Ducks have only themselves to blame.

“You definitely could tell they came out with more energy,” Ducks forward Dustin Penner said. “We brought our energy level up toward the end of the second period to match theirs.”

The Ducks’ effort was too little, and too late, against a Canuck team that has swathed itself in the role of scrappy underdog even though its total of 49 wins was one more than the Ducks’ 48.

“There was a lot of talk we were overmatched,” Vancouver Coach Alain Vigneault said. “It seemed that after that first game the series was already over with. All we wanted to do was put a good solid game on the ice, and that’s what we did.

“We know that against this team, if we’re going to be successful we’re going to have to keep it close.”

The Canucks had played three overtime games in their seven-game elimination of the Dallas Stars in the first round, and the toll of that series showed in their listless performance on Wednesday. They were shorthanded on defense because of Kevin Bieksa’s undisclosed illness and Sami Salo’s torso injury, and they were short on spirit too. The Ducks handled them convincingly.

Two days in the California sun changed nearly all of that.

Although they didn’t get Bieksa or Salo back Friday, the Canucks recovered their legs and their heart. They swarmed over the Ducks in the first period and for most of the middle period too. Twice they got lucky, but in the playoffs being lucky is better than being good.

The Canucks’ first bit of fortune came in the second period, when Duck winger Corey Perry’s shot caromed off the left post. The on-ice officials reviewed the play, but they ruled that the puck had not crossed the goal line. The Canucks got another break five minutes into the third period, when defenseman Willie Mitchell cleared a backhander by Selanne off the goal line.

“In the first period we let them get going, and teams can build on that,” Ducks defenseman Scott Niedermayer said. “We got some opportunities. We hit some posts. The other night, those went in. If we do that again, we’ll come off with a goal or two.”

As one of only two Canadian teams still in the playoffs -- Ottawa is the other -- the Canucks have become the darlings of the Canadian media. There was a large contingent of Canadian reporters in Anaheim for the first two games, and their presence reminded Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle of the scrutiny his team endured last season, when it defeated Calgary in the first round of the playoffs and lost to Edmonton in the conference finals.

“Playing Edmonton was a baptismal by fire in terms of the passion in the city, the home crowd, the media coverage that the Canadian markets afford to the hockey clubs,” Carlyle said.

It was a formative event for the Ducks’ young players, such as Perry, Ryan Getzlaf and Dustin Penner. They learned to ignore the well-meaning ticket requests of friends and the boos of hostile fans.

“It was great to have to deal with that this early in my career and as a group here,” Getzlaf said. “We had a lot of young guys who had to deal with a lot of different stuff.”

Now, they’ll have to try to regain control of this series at GM Place in front of the Canucks’ fervent fans.

“It’s 1-1, and this doesn’t change anything other than the venue,” Penner said. “We have an idea what it’s going to be like in that building. We’ve just got to believe in the hard work and effort we put into this entire season.”

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Helene Elliott can be reached at helene.elliott@latimes.com. To read more by Elliott, go to latimes.com/elliott.