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Ducks reclaim home ice with win in Game Three

Apr 30, 2007 - 5:24 AM VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Ticker) -- The Anaheim Ducks woke up in the second and third periods just enough to reclaim their home-ice advantage.

Dustin Penner and Corey Perry each had a goal and an assist as the Ducks notched a 3-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks to take a two-games-to-one lead in their Western Conference semifinals series.

Anaheim overcame a lethargic first-period effort, during which they put just two shots on net, and became the aggressors in the final two periods, outshooting the Canucks, 22-13. The Ducks rebounded from a 2-1 double-overtime loss in Game Two.

"That's been like that all year here," Anaheim right wing Teemu Selanne said about the slow start. "We try not to get frustrated or down about bad calls or a couple tough goals or whatever. That's what happens and it's an example today."

Vancouver came out of the gate hot, putting four shots on net in the opening three minutes. Anaheim goaltender Jean-Sebastian Giguere was up for the challenge, stopping all four chances, including an impressive glove save on Sami Salo's backhanded chance off a rebound.

"We outshot them by a large margin there, early," Markus Naslund said. "We had some great chances and (Giguere) made some key saves there to keep them in the game. And they got those two power-play goals. It was a close game.

"We're down a game here but we know that we can beat them. We just have to work on a few things and I think we'll be right there."

The Ducks opened the scoring 3:08 into the first period when Vancouver netminder Roberto Luongo got caught out of net, leading to a disastrous turnover after Penner dumped the puck behind Vancouver net.

Luongo fired the puck around the right wing boards where Perry intercepted it at the right corner. Perry fed a wide-open Penner in front and he quickly deposited the puck into the open net before Luongo could recover.

"They forecheck hard and they've got to guys taking away the boards so I was trying to shoot it hard and I didn't get all of it and it went on his stick," Luongo said. "It was a tough goal to give up right off the bat like that. Unfortunately, I'll have to take the blame for that one. ... (Defenseman Willie Mitchell) was yelling to play it so I tried to rim it hard and I fanned on it, so that's pretty much it."

The Canucks responded with a power-play goal with 48 seconds remaining in the first period. Vancouver, which was 3-for-53 with the man advantage in the playoffs before the tally, won the battle on a power play when Brendan Morrison and Bryan Smolinski created a turnover on the right wall.

The puck squirted loose to Naslund in the right corner and he sent a quick pass out front to Mattias Ohlund. Giguere saved Ohlund's wrist shot, but Naslund grabbed the rebound, kicked the puck up to his stick and deposited it into the open net to forge a tie.

"We have to be disciplined and it showed again tonight," Naslund said. "They got two power-play goals and that was the difference. If we can skate like we did early and play them 5-on-5 most of the game, then I think we've got a great chance."

Anaheim regained the lead with a power-play goal at the 9:25 mark in the second period. Defenseman Chris Pronger launched a wrist shot from the middle of the blue line, forcing Luongo to make a high save. A scramble in front ensued, with Francois Beauchemin finally finding the loose puck and firing a shot off the right post and in from in tight.

Daniel Sendin, who was the Canucks' leading scorer in the regular season with 36 goals, entered the contest with just one goal so far in the playoffs. The Swedish left wing made it two in the second period when he fired a wrist shot past Giguere at the 14:31 mark.

That was the last time Vancouver would have a chance to celebrate, as an ill-advised penalty set up Anaheim for the winning score.

Alex Burrows was called for intentionally dumping the puck over glass, leading to a power play for the Ducks. Pronger wasted little time, firing a pass to Perry at the right faceoff circle. Perry drilled a slap shot past Luongo for the game-winner.

"We were trying to get traffic in front of (Luongo) more than we did in Game Two," Perry said. "We talked about that. We had to come out and get traffic in front of him. He's a good goalie and if he sees a shot he's gonna stop it.

"He saw a few too many shots in Game Two and our forecheck was the key difference tonight. We pressured them and that's what we talked about. We made them make some passes they didn't want to make."

Pronger had two assists and Giguere finished with 24 saves. Anaheim's netminder has now won each of his last six starts here.

"In playoffs it's important to just take it one game at a time," Giguere said. "You're not going to win them all and you're going to lose some of them. Tonight was a big win and it's gonna be important to move on from that win, too."

Game Four is here on Tuesday night.