Anaheim builds lead, hangs on to top Red Wings
5/23/2007
Ducks center Rob Niedermayer, back right, is mobbed by teammates after scoring a goal in the first period last night as Anaheim beat Detroit to advance to the Stanley Cup finals.
ANAHEIM, Calif. - The Anaheim Ducks are going to the Stanley Cup final, but they didn't make it easy on themselves.
The Ducks built a 4-1 lead then had to hang on for a 4-3 decision over the Detroit Red Wings last night to win the NHL Western Conference final.
Rob Niedermayer scored short-handed and assisted on Samuel Pahlsson's crucial third-period goal as the Ducks won the best-of-seven series 4-2. Ryan Getzlaf, on the power play, and Corey Perry also scored before a screaming, towel-waving crowd of 17,380.
The Wings refused to go down without a fight. Pavel Datsyuk scored two third-period power-play goals. Henrik Zetterberg scored once and Mikael Samuelsson had three assists.
Anaheim will open the Stanley Cup final Monday at home against the Eastern Conference champion Ottawa Senators. It will be the Ducks second trip to the final after losing in seven games to New Jersey in 2003.
The Senators are making their first appearance in the final.
Anaheim goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere made one of his best stops in the third, a glove save on a Johan Franzen shot through traffic just as Detroit was trying to rally. In the second he blocked a Kyle Quincey deflection and got in front of a Zetterberg shot on a power play.
Detroit goaltender Dominik Hasek looked like a target in a shooting gallery early. Each team had 29 shots on goal.
Anaheim showed early it wanted to end the series and avoid heading back to Detroit for a Game 7. It outhustled Detroit and clipped the Wings with some crunching hits.
The Ducks booked their tickets to the final when Perry and Getzlaf scored second-period goals.
Perry notched his second goal in three games on a delayed penalty, making it 2-0. He found the puck during a scramble in front of Hasek and lifted it over the sprawled goalie.
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Getzlaf put the crowd into a frenzy when he made it 3-0 at 18:33 on the power play. Hasek had flattened himself on the ice but the puck popped lose and Getzlaf put it in the net on a backhand.
The Ducks came out flying in the first period and put Detroit on its heels. The effort was rewarded at 3:51 when Niedermayer deflected a Chris Pronger shot from the point past Hasek. The puck hit Niedermayer and just dribbled by Hasek.
It was the third shorthanded playoff goal of Niedermayer's career and came with 20 seconds left in a Todd Marchant penalty.
Detroit's frustration showed as the game progressed.
In the second period defenseman Danny Markov hammered the glass with his fist after a fan slapped the pane following a play.
NOTES: Rob Niedermayer's other two short-handed goals came in the 2003 playoffs in a conference semifinal game at Dallas and the conference finals against Minnesota. ... Teemu Selanne's winner Sunday was his first playoff overtime goal since 1993 when he was a Winnipeg Jet and his team lost the first round of the playoffs to Vancouver.
Monday, Ottawa at Anaheim, 8 p.m.
Wednesday, Ottawa at Anaheim, 8 p.m.
June 2, Anaheim at Ottawa, 8 p.m.
June 4, Anaheim at Ottawa, 8 p.m.
June 6, Ottawa at Anaheim, 8 p.m.*
June 9, Anaheim at Ottawa, 8 p.m.*
June 11, Ottawa at Anaheim, 8 p.m.*
* if necessary