NHL

Ducks eliminate defending champs in OT

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Steve Rucchin's goal at 6:53 of overtime gave the Mighty Ducks a 3-2 victory Wednesday night for a four-game sweep of the Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings.

Jean-Seastien Giguere made 32 saves in the stunning sweep of the opening-round Western Conference series.

The Red Wings, Stanley Cup champions three of the past six seasons, became the second defending Cup winner to be swept the following season in a four-game opening series.

In 1952, Detroit upset the 1951 champion Toronto Maple Leafs and went on to win the Cup.

Rucchin scored his first goal of the series with a one-timer from 10 feet after defenseman Keith Carney centered the puck from behind the net.

Jason Krog and Paul Kariya scored the other goals for the Ducks, who had been swept out of the playoffs by Detroit in their two previous trips.

Giguere gave up a tying goal to Sergei Fedorov with 2:15 left in regulation and a score to Henrik Zetterberg on a two-man breakaway at 13:23 of the first period.

Krog scored with 15:25 left in the third period to give Anaheim a 2-1 lead.

Giguere stopped 165 of 171 shots in the four games, with the Ducks winning each by one goal. He had a 1.24 goals-against average.

The goals were the second of the series for both Krog and Kariya. Grog scored the tying goal late in the Ducks' 3-2 win in Game 2. Kariya had the winner in Anaheim's 2-1 triple-overtime victory in the opening game.

Flyers win in 3 OTs

TORONTO -- Mark Recchi scored his second goal of the game with 6:06 left in the third overtime to give the Flyers a series-evening 3-2 victory against the Maple Leafs.

Ed Belfour had 72 saves before Recchi's wrist shot from the faceoff circle hit the goalie's stick and barely trickled over the goal line.

"Eddie Belfour battled tremendously hard. He was great tonight," Recchi said. "I was just trying to get it on net."

Jeremy Roenick also scored for the Flyers.

"That was two hockey games," Roenick said. "Eddie was awesome."

Travis Green and Mats Sundin scored for the Leafs, who were without leading scorer Alexander Mogilny. Clipped under the jaw by a stick two nights earlier, Mogilny was advised by team doctors to sit one out. He'll be re-examined today.

The Flyers outshot the Leafs 75-38, setting a Philadelphia playoff record for most shots on goal.

Toronto, which beat Philadelphia in double overtime on Monday night, played its third-longest game in franchise history and longest since 1943.

It was the second-longest game in Flyers history.

Michael Handzus almost won it for the Flyers in the first overtime, but his shot rolled over Belfour's pads and through the goal crease.

Philadelphia goalie Roman Chechmanek had 36 saves. He robbed Darcy Tucker in the second overtime with a kick save.

Belfour stopped John LeClair from scoring late in the second overtime with a spectacular blocker save.

In other Maple Leafs news, veteran left winger Shayne Corson is considering retirement, said his teammate and brother-in-law, Tucker.

Corson left the team Monday, ending a season marred by illness and waning production. Upset at being a healthy scratch in Toronto's 4-3 double-overtime victory over Philadelphia that night, he told coach and general manager Pat Quinn after the game he would not return.

AVALANCHE 3, WILD 1: Joe Sakic took the edge off another loud crowd with two goals in the first eight minutes, and Patrick Roy barely missed his second straight shutout for the visiting Avalanche.

For the first 30 minutes, Minnesota controlled the flow and spent most of its time in Colorado's zone, yet trailed by two goals.

The Avalanche was outshot 14-7 midway through the second and 25-21 for the game. But it simply beat the Wild at its own game -- with patient offense, solid transition defense and excellent goaltending.

Roy was pelted early, but nothing the Wild put on net went in until Gaborik's power-play goal with 2:40 left made it 2-1. That ended a string of almost 118 scoreless minutes for Minnesota.

Wild goalie Dwayne Roloson gave up two goals on four shots before being pulled for Manny Fernandez at 9:18 of the first.

SENATORS 3, ISLANDERS 1: Mike Fisher scored 28 seconds in, and Marian Hossa had a goal and an assist as visiting Ottawa took a 3-1 lead in the series.

The teams were coming off a double-overtime game Monday night that lasted 82 minutes, 25 seconds. But Ottawa came out energized, scoring two quick goals and outshooting New York 15-6.

The Senators took a 1-0 lead when Fisher took a pass from Bryan Smolinski, carried in from the blue line and lifted the puck over Garth Snow's left shoulder. Hossa also was credited with an assist.

Ottawa went up 2-0 on a fluke goal by Anton Volchenkov 4:12 in. Snow made the initial stop on Vaclav Varada's shot, and the rebound went to the left side of the net. Volchenkov got the puck and attempted a centering pass that deflected in off Snow's legs.

New York had a chance to cut the deficit with a five-on-three for 42 seconds bridging the first and second periods, but it didn't get a shot on goal.

Aucoin made it 2-1 at 2:48 of the second when he beat Lalime with a slap shot from the right point.

Ottawa regained a two-goal lead at 8:01 of the second on the power play when Hossa scored his third of the playoffs.

BLUES 4, CANUCKS 1: Martin Rucinsky had two goals and an assist as the host Blues rallied from a flat start. Dallas Drake and Chris Pronger scored in the second after spotting the Canucks a goal. Rucinsky scored twice in 1:37 late in the third as the Blues took a 3-1 lead. The Blues have won all six series in franchise history when taking a 3-1 lead.

Trailing early is normal for the Blues, a league-leading 22-15-3-6 when giving up the game's first goal in the regular season.

The Canucks were second in the league with 264 goals in the regular season, trailing only the Red Wings, but have been outscored 14-4.

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