DUCKS IN A ROW ANAHEIM GOES OT, COMPLETES STUNNING SWEEP OF CHAMPIONS DUCKS 3, DETROIT 2.

Byline: Brice Nixon Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - Call it a role reversal, a coming-out party, a Cinderella story, even David beating Goliath.

The Cinderella idea might work best for the Disney-owned Mighty Ducks. Their first-round sweep of the Detroit Red Wings looks like some kind of fairy tale-in-the-making, anyway.

Steve Rucchin scored 6:53 into overtime to give the Ducks a 3-2 series- clinching victory in Game 4 of the teams' first-round Stanley Cup playoff series in front of a sellout 17,174 at the Pond on Wednesday.

The Ducks wanted desperately to win Game 4 and avoid having to go back to Detroit in a series in which every game was close.

``It's a great feeling,'' Rucchin said. ``Did we deserve to win four games? Probably not. Those guys over there (the Red Wings), you have to admit they deserved a better outcome. Everything they threw at (Ducks goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere), he turned aside.''

Strong defensive play, better goaltending and goals from the usual suspects and unlikely sources have been the staples of the Ducks' playoff run. This was the case again Wednesday. Giguere, though, was the star of the series.

``It's a great feeling,'' Rucchin said. ``Let's not kid ourselves. J.S. Giguere is the man of the hour here. Our man stood on his head for us and won the series for us.''

Giguere stopped 32 of 34 shots Wednesday and 165 of 171 shots in the series. He frustrated the Red Wings and maybe surprised himself.

``If you asked me before the series about a sweep I would have said no,'' Giguere said. ``This series is now the past. Now we focus on the future.''

Jason Krog scored in the third period to give the Ducks to a 2-1 lead. Detroit's Sergei Fedorov tied it with 2:15 remaining. Fedorov threw a shot toward the Ducks' crease. Ducks defenseman Niclas Havelid was the only one there, but he accidentally deflected it into his own goal.

Rucchin won it with a one-timer, taking a pass from Keith Carney and beating Detroit goalie Curtis Joseph.

Only two teams in NHL history have lost the first three games of a series and come back to win it, the last time in 1975. The Red Wings were never far off, losing all four games by a goal, but were never really that close, either.

``There's no excuses. We just did not get it done, not one game,'' Detroit coach Dave Lewis said. ``One guy (Giguere) did not beat us. He was the difference, but their team beat us.''

Giguere did hold the always-powerful Red Wings in check, though. The Ducks made themselves the surprise of the playoffs. And they completely reversed two previous playoff sweeps at the hands of the Red Wings.

Krog's goal 4:35 into the third period looked to be the series-clincher the way Giguere had handled the Red Wings in the series. Krog took a pass from Carney and one-timed a blistering shot over the shoulder of Joseph for his second goal of the playoffs. Krog is the team's fourth-line center.

Giguere survived heavy pressure as the Red Wings tried for a tying goal. He stopped Brendan Shanahan with 3:25 remaining but couldn't do anything about Fedorov's goal.

The Red Wings had a 1-0 lead late in the first period after Petr Sykora's turnover led to Henrik Zetterberg's goal. That lasted less than two minutes as Ducks left wing and captain Paul Kariya tied it with 4:52 remaining.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, 3 boxes

Photo:

(1 -- color) The Ducks celebrate a goal by Paul Kariya (9) in the first period of their playoff game against Detroit,

(2) The Ducks' Samuel Pahlsson, left, and Sergei Fedorov of the Red Wings fight for the puck in the first period Wednesday at the Pond.

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

Box:

(1) STORY LINES

(2) WESTERN CONFERENCE

(3) EASTERN CONFERENCE