DUCKS GOING, GOING ...

Byline: Tim Trepany Daily News Staff Writer

For the first time in their Western Conference playoff series, the Mighty Ducks were left with no ``what-ifs.''

The Detroit Red Wings rallied from two two-goal deficits and beat the Ducks convincingly 5-3 in Game 3 Tuesday at the Pond.

After winning the first two games in overtime - outings that left the Ducks convinced they needed to make only minor adjustments - the Red Wings needed only regulation to put the Ducks on the brink of elimination.

``We didn't play our game,'' said Paul Kariya, who scored his seventh goal of the playoffs. ``We didn't trap well. They gave us a dose of our own medicine. They played the trap well and forechecked well and when we turned the puck over, they buried it.''

No statistics for preliminary rounds were available, but in the finals, only one team out of 23 that has fallen behind 3-0 has won four straight games to take the series.

``It's pretty bleak,'' Ducks coach Ron Wilson said. ``The Red Wings are not giving us many scoring chances. We have to find a way.''

Detroit's Russian Five did the Ducks in. They accounted for four of the goals, including two in a 24-second span in the third period that broke a 3-3 tie, and three of the Russians were on the ice for Doug Brown's second-period goal.

Sergei Fedorov and Slava Kozlov took advantage of mistakes by Ducks rookie defensemen to provide the third-period goals.

Dan Trebil, who was playing in his 37th NHL game, lost track of Fedorov, whose slap shot from the top of the left faceoff circle beat goalie Mikhail Shtalenkov low on the stick side at 3 minutes, 34 seconds.

On the next shift, Darren Van Impe, who was appearing in his 100th NHL game, was caught pinching on offense, allowing Kozlov to go in 1 on 1 on Shtalenkov.

``If we're as experienced as they are, these things might not happen,'' Wilson said. ``This is part of the learning process.''

Shtalenkov was making his first start of the playoffs because Guy Hebert was sidelined with a pulled groin, but he wasn't the problem. He faced 49 shots.

``Without him it would have been worse,'' Wilson said. ``Tonight we could make passes, but they ended up on Detroit sticks. We couldn't get the puck out of our end. Once they sensed we were in trouble and our defense was struggling, they cranked it up.''

It didn't start out that way. In fact, it was the Red Wings who struggled at the outset.

They had one particularly mind-numbing stretch during the first period that led to two Ducks goals.

First, Detroit's Mike Vernon got a high-sticking penalty, a rare call on a goalie. Even rarer was the 10-minute misconduct tacked on for arguing the call.

With Vladimir Konstantinov already in the penalty box for tripping center Richard Park, the Ducks held a two-man advantage, a frightening prospect when your goalie has just lost his composure.

The Ducks quickly took advantage, with Kariya one-timing a shot from the right faceoff circle past Vernon at 11:19.

The Red Wings' self-destruction continued. Just 15 seconds after the goal, defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom was whistled for tripping Teemu Selanne, giving the Ducks another 5 on 3.

It took them 35 seconds to capitalize, with Kariya threading a pass from the deep right wing to Selanne near the left post. Selanne redirected it in for a 2-0 lead.

The Red Wings pulled to within one when Kozlov followed his own rebound to score on a power play at 15:47 of the first, but they committed another mistake that led to a third Ducks' goal.

Trying to clear the puck out of his team's zone, Red Wings defenseman Aaron Ward's pass deflected off the skate of Ducks wing Warren Rychel.

Ted Drury picked up the loose puck and beat Vernone with a low shot at 5:12 of the second for a 3-1 lead.

But the Ducks couldn't hold it.

Igor Larionov scored off a deflection at 13:03 of the second and Brown followed just under 3-1/2 minutes with a goal that tied the score.

``They're one of the most talented teams in the league, but we can still beat them by playing solid defense,'' Kariya said. ``When we score three goals that should be enough to win.''

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Photo

Photo: (color) Detroit's Mike Vernon argues with referee Bill McCreay, who handed him a 10-minute misconduct penalty for questioning a call.

Associated Press