Ducks show killer instinct in 3-2 win

For most of Game 3 in the Western Conference semifinals, the Ducks battled against themselves as much as the Vancouver Canucks.

They took penalties. Lots of them. They were sloppy in their own zone. Often.

And yet the Ducks battled through their own foibles with vigor to regain home ice in the best-of-seven series with a gritty 3-2 victory Sunday night at General Motors Place. Game 4 is Tuesday night in Vancouver.

The Ducks came up big in a pivotal contest and have yet to face a series deficit in the playoffs. The reward for all their perseverance came at 7 minutes 51 seconds of the third period on Corey Perry’s tiebreaking power-play goal.

But the leg work was largely done by those on the penalty-kill unit, which bailed out the Ducks by erasing seven of eight Vancouver opportunities. Twice, they needed to burn off five-on-three situations.

“It’s definitely tiring,” Ducks winger Travis Moen said. “But we really wanted this game and the guys dug pretty deep. If you want it bad enough, you can get it. We just tried to battle hard.”

It was their power play that provided the difference. Perry received a pass from Chris Pronger and, with some open space in the left circle, fired a slap shot past Roberto Luongo, who was effectively screened by Chris Kunitz.

Andy McDonald started the play by winning a faceoff from Canucks forward Bryan Smolinski to get the puck back to Pronger at the blue line. Pronger had two assists and played a game-high 28:37.

“Just a good pass by Prongs,” Perry said. “I was looking for [McDonald] on the far side, but I didn’t see him and I knew Kuni would be in front. It was a great screen. He couldn’t see anything.

“I just shot the puck and I don’t know if he touched it or not. Thank God it went in.”

Francois Beauchemin also got a power-play goal in the second period for a short-lived 2-1 lead, giving the Ducks their ninth man-advantage goal in these playoffs.

It was needed because the Ducks were at times their own worst enemy.

Nine minor penalties were assessed against them, four of which came in a first period that might have buried a lesser team. But when called upon to kill off those penalties, the Ducks answered the bell every time but one.

Included in that first 20 minutes was a two-man disadvantage with both Pronger and Scott Niedermayer in the box. Somehow, the Ducks survived despite being outshot in the period, 13-2.

The Ducks managed to enter the first intermission with a 1-1 tie thanks to Dustin Penner’s goal, the result of a feed from Perry, who intercepted a clearing attempt by Luongo along the boards and quickly shot the puck over to the trailing winger.

“It’s important to stay calm,” Ducks goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere said. “We’ve faced this kind of situation before in the season where the other team might have dominated the first period. We have a lot of experience in this dressing room. There’s no need to panic.”

Giguere steadied his team in the face of adversity. Making his fourth consecutive start, he made 12 saves in the first period, with only Markus Naslund beating him on a rebound.

The veteran more than atoned for allowing Jeff Cowan’s second-overtime goal in Game 2. Giguere made 24 saves to outplay the heralded Luongo, including critical stops on Taylor Pyatt, Naslund and Daniel Sedin in the last 13 seconds with Luongo pulled for an extra attacker.

“They had lots of chances and Giguere made some big stops at critical times,” Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle said.

eric.stephens@latimes.com

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In control

The Ducks, up 2-1 in their playoff series against Vancouver, went 3-1 in their four regular-season meetings against the Canucks, earning seven out of eight possible points and outscoring Vancouver, 14-6:

Nov. 9: Ducks 6, at Canucks 0

* Nov. 30: Ducks 2, at Canucks 1

* Feb. 20: Canucks 3, at Ducks 2 (OT)

* Mar. 11: at Ducks 4, Canucks 2