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Beauchemin, Bryzgalov give Ducks 2-0 series lead

Apr 14, 2007 - 7:51 AM ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- Defenseman Francois Beauchemin scored two power-play goals during the regular season. He matched that total in less than 37 minutes against the Minnesota Wild.

Beauchemin tallied twice with the man advantage and Ryan Getzlaf added a goal and an assist as the Anaheim Ducks posted a 3-2 victory over the Wild to take a two-games-to-none lead in their Western Conference quarterfinal series.

Travis Moen recorded two assists and Ilya Bryzgalov made 30 saves for Anaheim, which travels to Minnesota for Game Three on Sunday.

"We wanted to take advantage of home ice, and we did that," Beauchemin said. "We'll go out there and try to be more disciplined. We took a lot of penalties tonight. We know we need to be more patient."

"It's a big opportunity for us," Wild center Mikko Koivu said. "It's going to be tough again, but we'll be ready for them."

Acquired from Columbus in November 2005 in the deal involving Sergei Fedorov, Beauchemin matched J.J. Daigneault's franchise record for most goals in a playoff game with a pair in Game Three of the 2006 conference quarterfinals against Calgary. Both of those tallies came on the power play.

"I think that he is a player who can be as good as he wants," Anaheim's Teemu Selanne said. "Last year against Calgary, he scored two big goals and beat (Jarome Iginla in a fight)."

The 26-year-old duplicated that effort in this one, opening the scoring with less than seven minutes remaining in the first period before giving the Ducks a 2-1 edge with 3:43 to go in the middle session. All five of Beauchemin's career postseason goals have come with the extra skater.

"I had one two-goal game in the regular season, and it feels good, especially when we make that power play work a little bit," Beauchemin said.

"The No. 1 thing that stands out is that he has a competitive spirit and has been a competitor for our group since we brought him in here," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. "He made some off-ice decisions as far as conditioning and got himself into world-class shape, and he hasn't looked back since. He has made a huge contribution to our back end, not only from a purely defensive, but from an offensive standpoint."

Getzlaf, who set up Beauchemin's second tally, scored one of his own while shorthanded late in the second to open a two-goal bulge.

"That was a big one for us," Bryzgalov said of Getzlaf's goal. "When you score a shorthanded goal, it's an extra. It's very positive when we have special teams like that."

"Giving up a shorthander hurts you, for sure," Minnesota's Brian Rolston said. "Obviously, we've got to get the power play going. They got two power-play goals and a shorty. That was the difference in the hockey game. ... We talked about how important special teams are, and we understand that in here."

It proved crucial as Koivu tallied with less than five minutes remaining in the third to draw the Wild within 3-2.

"I really think that a two-goal lead is the most dangerous part of the hockey game," Selanne said. "You can't get overconfident as a team. With all the veteran guys we have here, we won't let that happen."

But Bryzgalov, who made 12 saves in the final period, turned aside the final three shots he faced - including a point-blank chance by Marian Gaborik with 16 seconds left - to preserve the victory.

"We came back with that goal (by Koivu) and had some chances near the end but couldn't put it in," Gaborik said. "We need to play strong and come back at home. It will be a different story."

"I thought he gave us the netminding that was good enough to win," Carlyle said. "That is really all you can ask of your goaltenders. We ask our goalies to give us a chance. He did that again tonight."

Selanne and defenseman Chris Pronger each recorded an assist for the Ducks, who extended their playoff winning streak against the Wild to six games.

Gaborik netted his 10th career postseason goal for Minnesota, which has scored a total of four tallies in the six postseason meetings with Anaheim.

"You have to be sharp all 60 minutes, and I think tonight we were," Koivu said. "We just have to find a way to create some chances."

"I thought we played a great game," Wild coach Jacques Lemaire added. "It was just getting the power play to go a little better and staying out of the (penalty) box. The rest of the game was fine."

Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom, who led the league in goals-against average (1.97) and save percentage (.929) during the regular season, made a nice save on Selanne with 3:10 remaining in the first period to keep the game scoreless. But Beauchemin beat the screened netminder with a one-timer from the blue line just nine seconds later to give the Ducks a 1-0 edge.

"When you get a chance to shoot a one-timer, you want to put it on net and hope that something good happens," Beauchemin said.

Gaborik knotted the contest at 3:33 of the second, firing a loose puck past Bryzgalov from the slot. But Beauchemin restored Anaheim's lead late in the session with another one-timer off a cross-slot feed from Getzlaf that beat Backstrom to the glove side.

"The puck was rolling and I just tried to shoot it as well as I could, and it found its way in," Beauchemin said.

Just 2:26 later, Getzlaf carried the puck down the slot, got around defenseman Martin Skoula and whipped in a backhander for his fourth career playoff goal and a 3-1 advantage.

"The play started in our zone," Getzlaf said. "We battled on the wall, and Travis Moen hit me in full stride up the middle. ... I was excited. I think I spent more energy on the celebration than on the rush. That was a pretty exciting moment."

"He was in alone and got the backhander off," Minnesota goaltender Niklas Backstrom said. "It's tough to figure out where he's going to shoot. You just have to react."

Koivu made it a one-goal game with 4:56 to go in the third, when he scored from the low slot after defenseman Brent Burns skated around the net and threw the puck in front from the right side of the net.