Detroit Red Wings Hockey Team

Ducks defenseman Ric Jackman, a former first-round draft choice who had never been in a playoff game, got the nod to replace suspended Chris Pronger in the lineup Thursday night in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals. "Jackman has more offense on his side," Coach Randy Carlyle said when asked before the game about deciding between Jackman and Aaron Rome to fill in for Pronger. And Jackman made his presence felt in a big way in the first period of the Ducks' 5-3 victory over Detroit.

Over the course of a tight playoff series, it's not unusual for any dislike between teams to grow into open animosity, with hard hits and cheap shots carrying over from night to night. But that wasn't the case in the Western Conference finals, which ended with the Ducks' 4-3 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night at the Honda Center.

After a strong regular season in which he won a career-high 36 games, Jean-Sebsatien Giguere is saving his best for the playoffs. As he prepares for Game 1 tonight against the Red Wings, Giguere is leading all goalies with a 1.28 goals-against average in his seven games. "I think you've got to raise your game a level or two when you get to the playoffs," he said. Yet Giguere was largely overshadowed by Vancouver's Roberto Luongo in the second round despite putting up better numbers.

The Ducks left for Detroit Wednesday and yes, four lines did make the trip. After getting limited ice time over the first two rounds of the playoffs, the Ducks' fourth-line players are looking for that to change against Detroit in the Western Conference finals, which begin Friday night at Joe Louis Arena. "The great thing about hockey is that it takes a whole team to win," said veteran forward Brad May, a key contributor on the Ducks' fourth line. "But it also takes an entire team to lose too.

Today's game at Joe Louis Arena will define the Ducks as a team not only this spring but for years to come. The fifth game of the Western Conference finals will be the one in which they stop taking the careless penalties that have sapped their energy and fueled the Red Wings' offense, or it will be another showcase for their lack of discipline.

A big momentum swing in Detroit's 5-4 overtime victory over Washington on Thursday night occurred with the score 1-0 early in the second period. After a solid first period, the Red Wings lost the lead and control of the game when goaltender Chris Osgood elected not to play the puck because he thought referee Don Koharski would call Washington for icing.

With one brilliant play Saturday night in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals, Detroit center Sergei Fedorov demonstrated the skills that made him the Red Wings' $38-million man. Fedorov, who had not scored a point in the first two games of the series, took the life out the Washington Capitals with a goal at 15:09 of the third period that gave the Red Wings a 2-1 victory before a sellout crowd of 19,740 at MCI Center.

Maybe it's because Detroit and Washington have so many old-school veterans with common ties, or maybe the Red Wings and Capitals have just been too worn down by the long season, but this year's Stanley Cup finals may well be a showcase of "nice hockey". The way the teams made sure not to give up any bulletin-board material a day after the Red Wings' 2-1 victory in Game 1, you would have thought the best-of-seven series had turned into a lovefest. No put-downs or insults.

Detroit Coach Scotty Bowman may have gained his 29th Stanley Cup finals victory with the Red Wings' 2-1 win over Washington on Tuesday night but he didn't feel too good about his coaching. "I didn't think I had a good game myself as a coach," said Bowman, who moved three victories away from tying Toe Blake for the most Stanley Cups won by a coach with eight. "We were mixed up in the first half of the game and we had too many different line combinations and I have to do a better job on that."