DUCKS FIND THEMSELVES IN TWO DEEP OILERS USE GRIT, OPPORTUNITIES TO TOPPLE ANAHEIM EDMONTON 3, DUCKS 1.

Byline: RICH HAMMOND Staff Writer

ANAHEIM -- It's unwise to count out the Mighty Ducks. The way they rallied to beat Calgary in the first round, and the way they demolished Colorado in the second round, provide support for that idea.

That said, the Ducks are in trouble, and their Stanley Cup hopes are fading fast.

Edmonton put together another solid, gritty game and threw in a couple opportunistic goals as they beat the Ducks 3-1 in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals Sunday night in front of 17,264 at the Pond of Anaheim.

Fernando Pisani's goal with 2:51 remaining in the second period broke a 1-1 tie, and Michael Peca scored an empty-net goal with 17.2 seconds remaining as the Oilers took a 2-0 series lead.

``This is not what we had in mind, but we have to deal with it,'' Ducks forward Joffrey Lupul said. ``(Game 3 is) going to be as close to a must-win game as you can get.''

The Ducks can take an odd bit of consolation from the Oilers. In the second round, Edmonton lost its first two games to San Jose but won the next four and the series. But the Oilers came home for Games 3 and 4, while the Ducks must travel to Edmonton, where they have not won a game since 1999.

``We want to go back there with the mentality that we're down 2-0 and have that hunger,'' Oilers coach Craig MacTavish said. ``We want to have that attitude that we had in Game 3 against San Jose.''

Oilers goalie Dwayne Roloson turned in a second consecutive strong game, and although the Ducks seemed to be outworking the Oilers for long stretches, it didn't translate to success.

The Ducks put 34 shots on the Edmonton goal, but even so, they often seemed as though they were trying to pick their spots, rather than get traffic in front of Roloson and throw shots to the front of the net.

Carlyle wasn't entirely complimentary of Roloson, who made 33 saves.

``Their goaltender, a lot has been made of his role,'' Carlyle said. ``I think at times he is in position and we're not getting enough traffic.

``And then when you get traffic around him, he finds a way to be pretty acrobatic for the referees, complaining about the traffic, and his mask has come off a couple times because he shakes it off ... and that slows down the game when you have momentum.''

For the second consecutive game, the Oilers scored first and won, even though several players were suffering from flu-like symptoms that forced Raffi Torres and Marc-Andre Bergeron out of the game.

Chris Pronger scored on a power play 13 minutes into the first period, but the Ducks tied the score six minutes into the second period when Jeff Friesen picked up a rebound in the crease and knocked it in.

Pisani scored with 2:51 remaining in the period, when during a prolonged stay in the Ducks' zone, the puck bounced to the top of the faceoff circle and Pisani fired a wrist shot past goalie Ilya Bryzgalov.

As in Game 1, the Ducks put significant pressure on the Oilers in the third period. Edmonton didn't record a shot on goal in the period until almost 11 minutes had elapsed, but Roloson remained steady.

[e-mail]

[phone]

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1) Ducks goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov lets in a goal by Edmonton's Fernando Pisani (not shown), as Michael Peca celebrates.

(2) The Ducks' Teemu Selanne, left, tries to score by maneuvering past Edmonton goalie Dwayne Roloson.

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

Box:

NHL PLAYOFFS