Giguere’s play second to none

After a strong regular season in which he won a career-high 36 games, Jean-Sebsatien Giguere is saving his best for the playoffs.

As he prepares for Game 1 tonight against the Red Wings, Giguere is leading all goalies with a 1.28 goals-against average in his seven games.

“I think you’ve got to raise your game a level or two when you get to the playoffs,” he said.

Yet Giguere was largely overshadowed by Vancouver’s Roberto Luongo in the second round despite putting up better numbers. The 29-year-old veteran also is not a finalist for the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goaltender. The nods instead went to Luongo, New Jersey’s Martin Brodeur, Calgary’s Miikka Kiprusoff and the New York Rangers’ Henrik Lundqvist.

When asked at a news conference Thursday why Giguere has been overlooked, Ducks defenseman Chris Pronger turned it back on the questioner.

“Why are you not covering him?” Pronger asked with a smile. He then argued that Giguere doesn’t get his due because he plays on the West Coast.

“You look at the goalies that are left, Hasek is getting a lot of press, he plays in Detroit and gets a lot of coverage,” Pronger said. “I think Jiggy is getting some great coverage down in our market. But I think a lot of you East Coast folks haven’t really warmed up to the fact that you want to come down and see us in California. You only want to talk about us when we’re over here in the East.”

Giguere was able to play this well despite not starting the first four games of the playoffs after his son, Maxime, was born with a deformed right eye.

“When we lost the game in Minnesota, he grabbed the net and from then on he’s given us quality goaltending and has given us a chance in every game,” Coach Randy Carlyle said.

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Todd Marchant figures to play in his first game since undergoing surgery for a hernia April 6.

The veteran center is expected to not only boost the fourth line but also help out in killing penalties and winning faceoffs, things he excels at.

eric.stephens@latimes.com