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Ducks push Wild to brink of elimination

Apr 16, 2007 - 5:38 AM ST. PAUL, Minnesota (Ticker) -- Four years later and the Minnesota Wild are on the verge of a repeat against the Anaheim Ducks - getting swept in the postseason.

Andy McDonald and Rob Niedermayer scored goals as the Ducks defeated the Wild, 2-1, to take a commanding three-games-to-none lead in their Western Conference quarterfinal series.

Ilya Bryzgalov made 19 saves, losing his shutout bid with 39 seconds remaining, as Anaheim moved within one win of duplicating a four-game sweep of Minnesota in 2003.

"They are playing really well. They are all over the place," Minnesota's Marian Gaborik said. "It seems like there are 10 guys with the white jerseys out there.

"It's frustrating. We knew it was going to be a series like this, it's going to be tight. They are playing disciplined hockey. But we have to find positives. The effort is there, we're working hard, but not the chemistry. We need to know where each other is going to be in their zone.

The Ducks, who have beaten the Wild in seven consecutive postseason games, can wrap up the series Tuesday night at the Xcel Energy Center.

Minnesota struggled on the power play again, failing to convert on its first four opportunities to fall to 0-for-14 for the series before Petteri Nummeli tallied on a 6-on-4 in the final minute.

"They do a good job of reading where your only out is," Minnesota's Todd White said. "They have four guys aggressive on the puck at all times. You have to move the puck quick and the other guys have to get open."

The Wild had hoped a change of venue would help, having ranked second in the league in man-advantage goals at home with a franchise-record 49.

Instead, the trend continued from the playoff series between the teams in 2003, when the Wild went 1-for-16 on the power play.

"We have to build confidence. Our power play is not going well right now," Minnesota coach Jacques Lemaire said. "This was our best game to get the puck and being on them, but this was our worst game with the puck."

"They have a good power play over there," McDonald said. "Give credit to our guys for what they've done. They spend a lot of time studying them, looking at the things that they do."

With Anaheim having the man advantage, McDonald opened the scoring with 3:55 left to play in the first period, steering a relatively weak shot by Chris Pronger into the left side of the net past Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom, who was out of position.

"I was surprised at how out of position he (Backstrom) was," McDonald said. "I was just trying to redirect it on the net because we were 2-on-1, I didn't think he was going to be out to the top of the crease. It was a good play by Prongs (Pronger) to see me at the side of the net, and it's always key when you score first on the road."

"The puck was rolling," Pronger said. "I saw him (McDonald) going to the net, and I was just trying to get it at the net, knowing we had a 2-on-1 situation in front. He made a great tip."

That tally held up until midway through the final session. Niedermayer scooped up a puck in his own end, skated down the right wing and ripped a shot over the left shoulder of Backstrom for a 2-0 advantage.

"I think they played the other guy on the 2-on-1 (Pahlsson) a bit far and gave me a shot," Niedermayer said. "I just tried to get a good shot away. Lucky enough it went in."

"Niedermayer went down the wing, has a great battle for the puck along the wall, and finds a way to score the winning goal," Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said.

Nummeli gave the Wild a glimmer of hope when he one-timed a pass from Pierre-Marc Bouchard past Bryzgalov, who improved to 9-4 in 14 playoff appearances.