BACK TO WORK DUCKS DON'T PLAN ON LETTING GAME 3 LOSS GET BEST OF THEM.

Byline: Brice Nixon Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - Brian Murray has the advantage of looking at the big picture during the Stanley Cup playoffs, and the Mighty Ducks general manager is confident his team won't be sunk after its 2-1 loss to the Dallas Stars in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals.

``I know how our team is going to respond,'' Murray said. ``I've seen it all year.''

What Murray has seen is a team whose confidence level has increased since the second half of the season and has continued to rise in the playoffs, where the Ducks won their first six games by a single goal - four of those coming in overtime.

Ducks coach Mike Babcock sees his team holding a 2-1 lead in the series and has a simple theory on the matter.

``We've played seven games in the playoffs,'' he said, ``and in my mind the team that competed best won.''

The Ducks' first loss in the playoffs came Monday, which the Stars saw as a must-win and played with more urgency as a result.

``We're back in it,'' Stars center Mike Modano said. ``We felt (Monday) night was a turning point in the series, real pivotal. It's tough to come back from 3-0.''

Ducks right wing Steve Thomas said the Ducks knew there would be bumps in the road through the playoffs, but they also might have gotten a bit ahead of themselves.

``We've been successful as of late,'' Thomas said, ``so it's not hard to think of yourself as being the cat's (meow) right now. We have to get ourselves back down to earth.''

The Stars at least reeled in the Ducks with the victory, leaving themselves the opportunity to return to Dallas with their home-ice advantage restored. Coach Dave Tippett said the victory will allow the Stars to push forward as they did in the first round, when the Edmonton Oilers took a 2-1 series lead but the Stars won the next three games.

The Ducks have known of Dallas' potential to increase the pressure but remain confident they can control the situation if they can re-establish the hard-working style that brought them to this point.

If they do that, Babcock said, the hockey gods will be more kind to the Ducks than they were in the final minutes Monday, when Petr Sykora's shot stopped just short of the goal line before it was cleared away.

``I believe things work out for a reason,'' Babcock said. ``If we would've competed like we were supposed to all night long, we would've scored there. We were looser than we've been all playoffs, so we have to address that. I don't understand that.''

Modano didn't think the Ducks revealed any weakness in the loss, and Ducks captain Paul Kariya suggested losing sometimes is the best thing that can happen to a team.

That could hold true if the Ducks respond today.

``We have to step up our intensity to be successful,'' said Ducks goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who has been solid throughout the playoffs but for the first time was upstaged by Dallas goalie Marty Turco on Monday. ``We know we can do it, so we're confident (today's) going to be better.''

In Babcock's eyes, it a new day and a new game.

``The great thing about being in California,'' he said. ``The sun got up today, and so did we.''

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(color) The Mighty Ducks insist their first loss in the Stanley Cup playoffs won't affect them in Game 4 tonight.

Chris Carlson/Associated Press