DUCKS GIVE HOME-ICE ADVANTAGE BACK FLAMES BREAK GAME OPEN IN THIRD TO TAKE 2-1 SERIES LEAD CALGARY 5, DUCKS 2.

Byline: Eugene W. Fields Staff Writer

ANAHEIM -- The Mighty Ducks came into Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Western Conference Quarterfinals against the Calgary Flames with the best-of-seven series tied, 1-1, and a wave of momentum. The Ducks saw that momentum carried off in the tide of Tuesday's 5-2 loss in front of 17,174 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim.

The loss gave Calgary a 2-1 lead in the series and handed the Flames the home-ice advantage they lost when the Ducks won Game 2 in Calgary. Also stripped away was the Ducks' sense of confidence on their play at home against the Flames. The two teams split their season series, 2-2, with each team winning on its own ice.

What made this loss especially painful was the way in which the Ducks lost. Calgary took the Ducks out of their style of play and made them play more physical.

Although Ryan Getzlaf won a battle with Dion Phaneuf thanks to a hard right cross midway through the second period, the Ducks lost the war of physicality. The Ducks took 10 penalties and allowed three power-play goals. The Flames scored first and never trailed, continuing the series trend of whichever team scored first going on to win the game.

Trends and physical play aside, Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said Calgary worked harder, wanted the game more and simply played better than his team.

"Other than the fact that we scored a couple of power-play goals, I thought tonight was one of those nights where we didn't play at our highest level,'' Carlyle said. "We did not compete at our best level. We got outworked. In all facets of the game, I thought they wanted it more than we did and they went out and played that way.''

The bright spot Carlyle spoke of was the pair of power-play goals by rookie defenseman Francois Beauchemin, who answered Calgary's first two goals with his own before the Flames took the lead for good on Chuck Kobasew's goal with 4:26 left in the second period.

Beauchemin's first goal tied the score with 2:34 left in the first period, and the goal had more importance than just a game-tying goal. Beauchemin's power-play goal from just inside the blue line that caromed off the post into the goal was the first postseason goal of his career. More importantly, it was the Ducks first power-play goal of the postseason, as the Ducks went 0-11 in the first two games in Calgary.

Carlyle found it difficult to be pleased with his team's breakthrough on the power play considering the weakness of his penalty-killing unit, which has surrendered five goals in 24 opportunities.

"It's always important to score on the power play, but so did they. They scored more than we did,'' Carlyle said. "And we didn't play well enough to earn an opportunity to win the hockey game. We didn't play well enough to give ourselves a chance.''

When asked about the special teams play, Carlyle managed a small joke.

"It's a long list,'' he said when asked what was wrong with the penalty-kill unit. "I'm not going to go down the list for you.''

Ducks goaltender Giguere, who missed Game 1 due to an unspecified lower body injury, warmed up gingerly. He looked sharp enough in the opening minutes, making two saves in the first 90 seconds, including a diving cover after a save on a shot by Kristian Huselius just 1:12 into the game.

There were moments later in the game, especially on low shots, like Darren McCarty's goal to make the score 4-2, where Giguere appeared to be hampered. He finished with 21 saves. When asked about his health, he was "100 percent''.

"My job is to make the first save and I have to do a better job at that. And we as a team have to be better on the penalty-kill,'' Giguere said. "It's important to forget about it and focus on Game 4. We have to come in and work hard and focus on that next game.''

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Photo:

Calgary's Jordan Leopold, left, shoots past the Ducks' Todd Marchant during first-period play on Tuesday in Game 3 of the Western Conference playoffs.

Chris Carlson/Associated Press