Giguere to Revisit His Wild Streak

No team felt the playoff wrath of Mighty Duck goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere more than the Minnesota Wild. He dominated in the Ducks’ sweep in the Western Conference finals last spring.

Giguere ventures back into the Xcel Center tonight, and the greeting certainly won’t be a warm one. He had five shutouts against the Wild last season, three in the playoffs and two during the regular season.

“As a team, I thought that was our best series,� Giguere said. “You have to credit all 20 guys.�

Still, Giguere put up a wall in the series, tying an NHL playoff record with shutouts in the first three games. It was part of a 217-minute 54-second shutout streak, the fifth longest in NHL playoff history.

“They are the same type of team as us, they’re fast and play a team system,� Giguere said. “You have to work hard to be successful against them.�

That Giguere did, even during the regular season. He had a 1.48 goals-against average and two shutouts in four regular-season starts.

*

From “The Best Trades Are The Ones You Don’t Make� file:

Rookie Joffrey Lupul never hesitated Friday, charging from behind the net and tucking the puck just inside the right post for his third goal of the season.

Earlier this month, the Ducks had discussed including Lupul in a package for Edmonton’s Mike Comrie. The deal never materialized and Lupul has shown a high ceiling on his abilities.

“I have found you got to keep your feet moving in this league,� the 20-year-old Lupul said. “I still have to get over some old habits. In juniors, I was the best skater. I could go by a defenseman. Here, I have to keep moving my feet, like I did [Friday].�

As pleased as Coach Mike Babcock is about that, he seems careful not to heap too much praise on the rookie.

“He probably wonders why he doesn’t get the puck more or gets to play in overtime more,� Babcock said. “He probably thinks he should be on the ice all the time. When he starts doing all the other things well, he will be. He needs to play physical every night. When he waits for everyone else to do things and just shoots the puck, then he’s a junior hockey player.�

*

Monika Prospal, wife of Duck forward Vaclav Prospal, gave birth to the couple’s second child Friday night, a 9-pound 2-ounce girl named Veronika. Mother and daughter are doing fine, and father has points in five consecutive games.... Duck forward Dan Bylsma, who has not played this season while rehabilitating from knee surgery, went on the road with the Ducks for the first time this season so he can get more practice time. He said he was still a couple of weeks from being ready to play.

TODAY

at Minnesota, 3:30 p.m. PST

Channel 9, ESPN 2

Site -- Xcel Center, St. Paul.

Radio -- KPLS (830).

Records -- Ducks 8-7-3-5, Wild 8-12-3-0.

Record vs. Wild (2002-03) -- 2-1-0-1.

Update -- The Wild, a conference finalist last season, has struggled this season and has lost four consecutive games, prompting a finger-pointing closed-door meeting after a 2-1 loss to San Jose on Friday. In its last 13 games, the Wild has averaged 1.6 goals per game.