The streak comes to an end

The Mighty Ducks were defeated by the Dallas Stars by the score of

2-1 on Monday night, breaking Anaheim’s six-game playoff unbeaten

streak and leaving them with a one game advantage in the best of

seven series. It was really another great performance by both teams

and again the goaltenders stole the spotlight.

Jean-Sebastien Giguere of the Mighty Ducks and Marty Turco of the

Stars were both brilliant between the pipes and kept the game close.

Giguere continued to keep his focus and continued to rely on the

positioning that has allowed him to make many tough saves appear

easy. Turco, on the other hand, plays with more passion but uses more

energy, less technique and in the end is not as efficient in style as

Giguere. Turco plays like kids do in the street -- flopping around,

stacking the pads, using anything and everything to make a save.

It is amazing to see two young goalies playing at such a high

level, and playing the position so differently. In the end all that

matters is who lets in the fewest goals. There are no style points

when you look in the win-loss column, but for me it sure is nice to

see both ends of the goalie spectrum being displayed during this

round. I have a feeling that this is the start of a nice rivalry

between Giguere and Turco, one that will be built on mutual

admiration for one another’s skills.

Both teams have had a hard time solving the goalies, but a big

reason for this is that these teams are incredibly solid defensively.

There has been limited room to get out-numbered attacks generated,

and this has pushed most of the shots to the outside, where these

goalies will stop almost all of them. Dallas has adjusted its game in

order to try and maximize scoring opportunities by placing big bodies

in front of the Anaheim net. This creates havoc in front of the

goalie with screens, deflections and rebounds. This has really been

the only way to solve Giguere. Goalies, no matter how good they are

or how much they are in the zone, can’t stop what they don’t see.

On Dallas’s first goal of the game, the team had four shots in

succession, all rebounds after the initial shot was taken. The fourth

shot came from Jere Lehtinen who beat Giguere past his blocker side.

Anaheim came back with a big power play goal by Steve Rucchin, who

was positioned on the goal line to Turco’s left. Using Adam Oates on

the back door as a passing option, Rucchin stepped out and made a

cross crease pass that bounced off of the defensemen, then Turco and

then into the net. The Pond came to its feet and the Ducks were

rolling again.

Rucchin’s goal brought Anaheim back into that familiar comfort

zone with a low scoring tie game. They seem to feel in control when

the game is tight and have the confidence now to believe that these

are the games that they can and will win. After all, winning is

contagious. With the way the Ducks have played during these playoffs,

there is no reason to doubt that they will continue to be successful.

Unfortunately for the Ducks, this was not their night. Late in the

second period, Lehtinen scored his second goal of the game by

deflecting a shot from Derian Hatcher. Two Dallas players along with

the Anaheim defensemen jammed the front of the net and Giguere had no

chance on the redirection. This goal would end up being the game

winner, but again, Giguere was not beaten by a clean shot that he

could see. Dallas had to fight through some last minute panic attacks

as Turco stopped Peter Sykora with one of those sprawling saves with

just seconds left on the clock.

If you were at the game or saw it on television, you certainly

were entertained. I can’t wait to see what the boys have in store for

game four tonight.