Ducks' Giguere knows what it's like to play over and over
STANLEY CUP FINALS FYI
Anaheim's goaltender can feel for Penguins' Fleury and Red Wings' Osgood, who played nearly the equivalent of two games in Pittsburgh's Game 5 win.
PITTSBURGH -- Ducks goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere knew exactly what Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury and Detroit's Chris Osgood went through during Monday's triple-overtime Stanley Cup finals game at Detroit -- and what the two goalies had to do in order to recover for Game 5 today.
In 2003 Giguere played in a triple-overtime and a single-overtime game against Detroit, a five-overtime game and a single-overtime game against Dallas, a double-overtime game at Minnesota and two single-overtime games against New Jersey.
He had a playoff-record overtime shutout streak of 197:52, starting with a triple-overtime game against Detroit in 2003 -- his first playoff game -- and ending in Game 2 of the Ducks' second-round series against Vancouver last spring.
"Obviously it's not easy and I think Marc-Andre Fleury, being young, probably will benefit from that," said Giguere whose career overtime playoff record of 12-1 is the best of any NHL goalie in his first 13 overtime playoff games.
"Not that Osgood is old," he said of the 35-year-old Red Wings goalie, "but he is a little older. Fortunately for him, he was not as busy as Marc-Andre."
The Red Wings outshot the Penguins, 58-32, in Game 5 and that was reminiscent of most of the Ducks' playoff efforts in 2003, when Giguere won the Conn Smythe trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs even though the Ducks lost to New Jersey in a seven-game final series.
After his playoff shutout streak ended last spring he began a new streak, helping the Ducks beat Vancouver twice in overtime and beat Detroit in double- and single-overtime games on their way to winning the Cup. They didn't play any overtime games in their first-round loss to Dallas this season.
For his career, he has allowed one goal in 250 minutes 47 seconds of playoff overtime and has stopped 101 of 102 shots.
"The key is to hydrate and refuel your energy by eating well," he said of recovering from long games.
And no, he wasn't glad to be watching from home on Monday while Fleury and Osgood did all the work.
"I'd love for it to be me. That would mean we're fighting for the Stanley Cup," he said. "Those games are hard but when you're in them it's not as hard as it looks. When you're that close to the Cup the adrenaline carries you."
Giguere said he has been enjoying the finals.
"I think Detroit is playing unbelievable. They seem to be in control and they never panic," he said. "They look ready to win.
