MIGHTY DUCKS INSIDE LOOK: ANAHEIM WINS POWER STRUGGLE KILLING OFF POWER PLAYS KEY PART OF WILD SWEEP.

Byline: Rich Hammond  Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - As this Western Conference final series began, the one clear advantage the Minnesota Wild seemed to have over the Mighty Ducks was in the speciality teams of power play and penalty killing.

But the Ducks continue to be full of surprises.

Goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere paved the road to the Stanley Cup Finals for the Ducks, but the gritty efforts from the penalty killers frustrated the Wild's forwards, and the Ducks even came through with two power-play goals in Friday's decisive Game 4 victory.

A foreboding sign seemed to appear early in Game 4. The Wild scored a power-play goal at the 4:37 mark, ending Giguere's remarkable shutout streak. And after the Pond crowd quieted after roaring its appreciation for Giguere, everyone in the building no doubt wondered how the Ducks would respond.

The Ducks had killed all 11 previous penalties in this series but had not scored a power-play goal of their own. Both of those streaks left the board by the 8:30 mark, when Adam Oates picked up a deflection in front of the Minnesota net and tied the game.

Oates gave the Ducks the lead 9:31 into the second period when he knocked in a wrist shot, and Ducks coach Mike Babcock couldn't help but smile. Babcock has said he doesn't care how many power-play goals the Ducks score or give up, as long as the numbers end up equal.

``We haven't scored any,'' Babcock said before the game, ``but we haven't given up any, and we've scored two shorthanded, so in my mind we're two ahead.''

The Ducks pushed that margin up on Oates' second goal and maintained it thanks to great penalty killing after Andrew Brunette's early goal. The Ducks killed three penalties in the second period, including one that extended into the third for 57 seconds.

``The guys are sharp, the guys are alert,'' Minnesota coach Jacques Lemaire said of the Ducks' penalty killers. ``You know, they know what's coming and they have good goaltending. That's the reason why (the Ducks are succeeding).

``We were similar to that in past series. When everything is in place, you get a lot of success. They deserve it, because they play well. I have to admit that.''

The Ducks came into Game 4 ranked 15th of 16 teams on power-play efficiency at 8.2 percent (4 of 49) and fifth in penalty-kill efficiency at 88.9 percent (5 of 45). The Wild, meanwhile, had the most efficient power play (21.7 percent) and the 11th-best penalty-kill unit (83.3 percent).

Minnesota's power play was no doubt effective during the playoffs, but the Wild just might have hit a hot streak. During the regular season, the Minnesota power play was mediocre, ranked 23rd out of 30 (14.2 percent efficiency).

By contrast, the Ducks had the league's second-best penalty-kill unit during the regular season that can be attributed to the emphasis put on that area by rookie coach Babcock, who said he's not surprised to see his penalty killers shutting down the suddenly vaunted Minnesota power play.

``When you come in, it takes a while for your system to get in place,'' Babcock said. ``I expect us to be much better at it in the preseason than we were at the start of this year.''

CAPTION(S):

box

Box:

MIGHTY DUCKS vs. MINNESOTA: Mighty Ducks win series 4-0