Anaheim, Calif. – “Jiggy” and the Anaheim Ducks held off the Detroit Red Wings to earn a second trip to the Stanley Cup Finals.
Jean-Sebastien Giguere shut out Detroit for the first two periods as Anaheim built a 3-0 lead, then withstood a three-goal outburst by the Red Wings in the closing period to take a 4-3 victory Tuesday night.
Samuel Pahlsson’s goal with 14:06 remaining proved to be the difference for Anaheim, which meets the Ottawa Senators in the Finals.
Rob Niedermayer, Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf also scored against Detroit goalie Dominik Hasek as the Ducks downed the Red Wings to take the Western Conference finals 4-2.
The Ducks and Senators, both looking for their first NHL championship, open Monday night in Anaheim.
Giguere finished with 26 saves. Hasek had 25.
The Ducks goalie afterward expressed his respect for the 42-year-old Hasek.
“Doing what he does at his age, you know it’s not easy,” Giguere said. “I won’t be there when I’m his age, for sure. But I really see it as the Ducks beat the Red Wings. It’s not about the goalies.”
Hasek, a six-time winner of the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s best goalie during the regular season, didn’t necessarily agree.
“He (Giguere) played great. I hate to say he played better than me, but maybe he did,” Hasek said. “He stole Game 5, and that was the key to the series.”
Hasek added he would decide in a few weeks whether he’ll be back next season.
The Red Wings outshot the Ducks 16-3 in the third period and got one goal from Henrik Zetterberg and two – both on power plays – from Pavel Datsyuk, the last with 3:04 remaining.
Ducks star Teemu Selanne, who at 36 will be playing in his first Finals, was afraid it was all slipping away when Detroit stormed back.
“In the third period, I have never been so nervous and so shaky in a hockey game in my life. And I was on the bench,” Selanne said. “We did not want to go back to Detroit. When it ended, I took several deep breaths.”
