PRONG-LESS DUCKS WIN ANAHEIM DOES IT WITHOUT STAR DEFENSEMAN, TIES WEST FINALS.

Byline: ELLIOTT TEAFORD

Staff Writer

ANAHEIM -- The Ducks didn't just survive without defenseman Chris Pronger.

They thrived.

Their power play clicked twice, their slumping superstar scored his first goal in five games and the guy who filled in for the suspended Pronger scored his first playoff goal on his first shot in his first postseason game.

Raw energy and emotion also carried the Ducks past the Detroit Red Wings 5-3 in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals Thursday night at the Honda Center.

A raucous sellout crowd of 17,375 celebrated a Ducks' victory that might as well have been a rebirth. The Ducks regained the momentum they surrendered during their dispiriting 5-0 loss to the Red Wings in Game 3.

The best-of-7 series is tied at two games apiece. Game 5 is Sunday afternoon in Detroit's Joe Louis Arena.

"It was must-win for us," Ducks goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere said.

Pronger, their leading scorer in the playoffs, was suspended for Game 4 by the NHL after his hit on Detroit's Tomas Holmstrom midway through Game 3.

The Ducks hardly seemed to miss him while building a 3-1 first-period lead, however.

Ric Jackman, Pronger's replacement, scored a power-play goal to give the Ducks a 2-1 lead 11:46 into the game. His first playoff goal in his first postseason game ended the Ducks' 0-for-33 skid with the man-advantage.

Teemu Selanne then broke from his scoring funk with an even-strength goal that extended the Ducks' lead to 3-1. Selanne had been blanked in the first three games in this series plus Game 5 in the previous round against Vancouver.

When the Red Wings rallied to tie the score at 3-3 in the second period, the Ducks refused to fold despite having the ready-made excuse of missing Pronger.

Instead, Ryan Getzlaf whistled a wrist shot past a well-screened Dominik Hasek for a power-play goal and a 4-3 lead 5:24 into the third period.

The Ducks' clamped down on the Red Wings' smooth-skating forwards down the stretch and Rob Niedermayer sealed the deal with an empty-net goal with 1:08 remaining.

In the end, the Ducks' patchwork defensive corps bent on occasion but did not break. Jackman came up with a big goal in the first period and Joe DiPenta and Kent Huskins excelled when asked to play additional minutes late in the game.

Defenseman Scott Niedermayer absorbed some of Pronger's ice time, playing a whopping 34 minutes. He also assisted on brother Rob's goal.

"Tonight was kind of a gut-check for our group," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. "We had different people step up and have huge games for our hockey club."

One shift late in the game proved to be pivotal, thanks to some superb puck possession by the Ducks' so-called "Kid Line" of Getzlaf, Dustin Penner and Corey Perry.

With the Red Wings buzzing around Giguere's net in search of the tying goal, the Ducks gained possession and would not give up control of the puck.

Getzlaf, Penner and Perry worked their magic down low and kept the Red Wings on the defensive.

"We gave Jiggy a rest," said Perry, who scored the Ducks' first goal. "We were getting outshot by two-to-one at that point and we needed to put some pressure on them."

The 90-second breather with about five minutes to play enabled Giguere and the Ducks' defensemen to regroup and beat back the Red Wings' final challenges.

"We're a really confident group," Giguere said. "We know what we're here for. Being down 2-1 in the series wasn't the end of the world."

Now it's back to Detroit where the teams split the first two games of the series.

"We know we can play well in Detroit because we've done it before," Giguere said. "But it's the same as (after Game 3), we have to forget this game as soon as we leave the rink."

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CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) The Ducks' Ryan Getzlaf, rear, celebrates his third-period goal with Francois Beauchemin on Thursday.

Jeff Gross/Getty Images

(2) The Ducks' Teemu Selanne scores a first-period goal against Detroit's Dominik Hasek.

Robert Laberge/Getty Images

Box:

DUCKS vs. DETROIT