Louie
04-14-2003, 07:21 AM
After losing two games in a row at home, the Detroit Red Wings face a 0-2 series deficit and will have to win on the road if they want to continue playing this season. Sound familiar? Anyone? Anyone?
The Anaheim Mighty Ducks have taken a commanding series lead with 2-1 and 3-2 victories on Thursday and Friday respectively.
As the Wings visit Arrowhead Pond for Game 3 of this series, they won’t be able avoid flashbacks of traveling to Vancouver down 0-2 in their first round series in the 2002 postseason.
Detroit won the next four games of that series by a combined score of 17-7 to move on the second round in six games. That included winning three games at Vancouver.
However, there is a huge difference between last year and this year. In a name - Jean-Sebastien Giguere.
The Red Wings have outshot the Ducks 100-67 so far in this series. Goaltender J.S. Giguere - a masked man known as Jigger - has turned away 97 of the C-note worth of shots Detroit has fired his way. And that's all in his first two playoff games ever.
And now the series shifts to Anaheim, where a stingy Ducks team allows only 2.02 goals per game.
Yet, the Red Wings are confident they can turn things around as they did last season. Even though Detroit's last win came on April 3.
"There were hushed tones in the Wings' dressing room (after the Game 2 loss)," writes Bob Wojnowski of the Detroit Free Press. "But no hint of dismay. There was no audible anger. There was a resolve, which comes from experience, positive and negative."
"I think we played reasonably well in spite of losing," Detroit captain Steve Yzerman told reporters after the latest loss.
And you won't catch the Ducks disagreeing. They say they haven't played up to their potential.
"I don't know why we haven't played like we can," Anaheim Coach Mike Babcock said. "It's like we're so cautious. But our goaltender has been great."
And that's not hyperbole from Babcock. Giguere has been stellar with a tight-fisted .923 save percentage on the campaign. He helped the Ducks to 55 points in the second half of the regular season. Only two NHL teams finished with a better second half.
One of those teams was the Red Wings, who accumulated 56 points over the second half of the regular season.
It was Detroit’s prowess at home that guided the team to second place in the Western Conference, as the Wings are only 20-16-5 in road dates this seasons. And they finished the regular schedule with just one win in their last five road affairs.
Meanwhile, Anaheim went 22-12-7 on friendly ice this year. The Ducks finished off the season by going 5-1-1 in their last seven home games
The Anaheim Mighty Ducks have taken a commanding series lead with 2-1 and 3-2 victories on Thursday and Friday respectively.
As the Wings visit Arrowhead Pond for Game 3 of this series, they won’t be able avoid flashbacks of traveling to Vancouver down 0-2 in their first round series in the 2002 postseason.
Detroit won the next four games of that series by a combined score of 17-7 to move on the second round in six games. That included winning three games at Vancouver.
However, there is a huge difference between last year and this year. In a name - Jean-Sebastien Giguere.
The Red Wings have outshot the Ducks 100-67 so far in this series. Goaltender J.S. Giguere - a masked man known as Jigger - has turned away 97 of the C-note worth of shots Detroit has fired his way. And that's all in his first two playoff games ever.
And now the series shifts to Anaheim, where a stingy Ducks team allows only 2.02 goals per game.
Yet, the Red Wings are confident they can turn things around as they did last season. Even though Detroit's last win came on April 3.
"There were hushed tones in the Wings' dressing room (after the Game 2 loss)," writes Bob Wojnowski of the Detroit Free Press. "But no hint of dismay. There was no audible anger. There was a resolve, which comes from experience, positive and negative."
"I think we played reasonably well in spite of losing," Detroit captain Steve Yzerman told reporters after the latest loss.
And you won't catch the Ducks disagreeing. They say they haven't played up to their potential.
"I don't know why we haven't played like we can," Anaheim Coach Mike Babcock said. "It's like we're so cautious. But our goaltender has been great."
And that's not hyperbole from Babcock. Giguere has been stellar with a tight-fisted .923 save percentage on the campaign. He helped the Ducks to 55 points in the second half of the regular season. Only two NHL teams finished with a better second half.
One of those teams was the Red Wings, who accumulated 56 points over the second half of the regular season.
It was Detroit’s prowess at home that guided the team to second place in the Western Conference, as the Wings are only 20-16-5 in road dates this seasons. And they finished the regular schedule with just one win in their last five road affairs.
Meanwhile, Anaheim went 22-12-7 on friendly ice this year. The Ducks finished off the season by going 5-1-1 in their last seven home games