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Ducks top Stars, stave off elimination

Apr 19, 2008 - 7:07 AM ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- The Anaheim Ducks are not yet ready to relinquish their title as defending Stanley Cup champions.

Ryan Getzlaf, Teemu Selanne and defenseman Sean O'Donnell each had a goal and an assist as the Ducks avoided elimination Friday with a 5-2 victory over the Dallas Stars in Game Five of their Western Conference quarterfinal series.

Corey Perry and Todd Marchant also scored for the Ducks, who still trail in the series, three games to two.

Captain Chris Pronger and Chris Kunitz each recorded a pair of assists and Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 40 saves for Anaheim, which went 2-for-3 on the power play.

"I felt really good tonight," Giguere said. "My job is just to try to give the team a chance to win. If I do that, I feel like we have the guys up front that can score some goals and we did that tonight. It wasn't always pretty, but we did the job and found a way to win. It was do-or-die. I wanted to leave it all on the table.

"We felt like they have outplayed us and outwilled us in the first few games of the series, we weren't very satisfied with that. Tonight we wanted to show a lot of desperation, a lot of emotion. I think we did that."

Marchant said Giguere was "unbelievable."

"That's what we expected of everybody," Marchant said. "We needed everybody to come out and play their best game and we were able to do that. And we give ourselves another chance. That's all we wanted going into this game, play as well as you can, see what happens, and if you get another chance, live to fight another day, that's great.

"Now our focus is on Game Six. It's the same thing. We want to go out and play the best game we can for 60 minutes and if we're fortunate to come out of that, then we give ourselves another chance."

Defenseman Mattias Norstrom and Mike Ribeiro tallied for the Stars, who host Game Six on Sunday.

"Obviously you don't want to give them any life," Dallas defenseman Stephane Robidas said. "They've been successful in the playoffs and they know how to win. We just have to focus on Sunday and not think about it further or what's going to happen."

With the 2007 Eastern Conference champion Ottawa Senators already out of contention for the Cup, the Ducks were one loss away from assuring that two different teams will vie for the championship this postseason. But after Giguere kept Anaheim in the contest with some stellar play in the first two periods, the club erupted for three goals in the third to guarantee at least one more playoff game.

"I guess desperation is the descriptive as far as the game was concerned," Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said. "We had our fair share of scoring chances and I'm sure they had their fair share. I thought Giguere was the best player on the ice tonight."

Giguere made 14 saves in the opening session and 16 more in the second as the Ducks carried a 2-1 lead into the third. Teemu Selanne expanded the advantage during a 5-on-3 power play in the first minute of the period and, after Ribeiro got Dallas back within one, O'Donnell restored the two-goal bulge midway through the session.

From the right point, Pronger unleashed a slap shot that went wide of the right goalpost. But the puck caromed off the end boards to Selanne, who one-timed it past goaltender Marty Turco from the left side of the net 48 seconds into the third for a 3-1 cushion.

Ribeiro netted his fourth career playoff goal at 4:41, but O'Donnell put Anaheim ahead, 4-2, with 7:55 remaining, receiving a pass from behind the net by Kunitz and beating Turco low to the glove side from the slot for his first tally of the series.

The goal came one day after O'Donnell had a costly giveaway in Game Four.

"I don't think I tried anything special tonight. I think it was more of a coincidence that I was able to do that tonight," O'Donnell said. "We'll call it even these two games - I cost one, I got one. That's what the playoffs are all about - getting contributions from players you're not expecting it from."

Marchant sealed the victory with an empty-netter with 84 seconds to go.

The Ducks opened the scoring at 8:25 of the first, when Perry carried down the right wing and put a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle between the pads of Turco. The goal came just moments after Giguere made a diving save on a chance by Ribeiro.

The 2003 Conn Smythe Trophy winner, Giguere came up with another brilliant stop with 8:15 left in the period, denying Stu Barnes from alone in the low slot during a 2-on-1 rush.

Selanne nearly gave Anaheim a two-goal lead with 6:26 remaining, when he attempted a wraparound at the left post. But after video review, it was determined the puck did not completely cross the goal line before Turco knocked it away with his stick.

One second after their power play expired, the Stars pulled even late in the period. After several failed clearing attempts by the Ducks, Brad Richards made a cross-slot pass to Norstrom, who put a shot from the left circle over Giguere's right shoulder with 93 seconds left in the session.

"After our power play they were maybe a little bit tired," Norstrom said. "It was a very nice pass by Richards. I just tried to put it high and fortunately it went in."

Getzlaf put Anaheim ahead for good during a man advantage midway through the second. Standing in the left circle, the Ducks' leading scorer during the regular season waited for his teammates to set a screen before firing the puck between the legs of defenseman Matt Niskanen and past an unsuspecting Turco at 11:03 for a 2-1 edge.

Turco finished with 27 saves for Dallas, which went 0-for-7 on the power play.

"We would have loved to have done it tonight," Turco said. "Certainly our effort was there. It was enough, but we let in too many chances. Now we'll get a pretty good crack at it at home.

O'Donnell said the Ducks have to take fewer penalties.

"Seven's still a number that's way, way too high," O'Donnell said. "I think it was just a matter of the odds before we finally got on a roll and killed some of them. They were giving it to us pretty good the first four games on the power play. We made some adjustments. They're still going to get some chances, but we want to try and take away their bread-and-butter."

"Special teams were the key tonight and we didn't do much on the power play," Robidas said. "They did pretty good on their power play, so we're just going to have to bear down on that, and focus and forget about this one, and get ready for Sunday night."