GIGUERE LOSES COOL, BIG GAME GOALTENDER ASSESSED 16 PENALTY MINUTES.

Byline: Eugene W. Fields Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - Mighty Ducks goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere played white-hot for two periods against the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday. His temper ran just as hot in the third period, as he and his teammates made several mental mistakes en route to a 6-3 loss in front of an announced 14,456 at the Pond.

Giguere was angered when Ryan Smyth slapped his stick on a power-play goal by Chris Pronger that gave the Oilers (26-18-6) a 4-3 lead with 9:43 left. Giguere went after Smyth and drew a two-minute minor for roughing that extended an Edmonton 5-on-3 advantage. Less than 30 seconds later, Giguere went after Smyth again and was tagged with a two-minute minor for roughing, a two-minute minor of tripping and a 10-minute misconduct. Pronger put the game away with a goal with 8:56 left. Shawn Horcoff scored an empty-net goal with 57 seconds left.

After the game, Giguere was quick to take the blame for losing his control.

``I was really upset, for more than one reason. But it's unacceptable,'' Giguere said. ``I can't react like that. What I did, it can not happen. I'm sorry to my teammates and it's not right.''

Giguere didn't want to specifically talk about what Smyth did, except to say that he was not happy with Smyth's actions.

``It's pretty much between me and Smitty and if you could go ask him, I'm sure he'll be man enough to tell you what he did,'' Giguere said. ''It's just one of those things that gets me going when a guy does it. But like I said, I can't react like that.''

The loss spoiled a two-goal game by Teemu Selanne and a two-assist performance by Andy McDonald.

Eugene W. Fields, [phone]

sports(at)dailybulletin.com