A week ago Wild players were faced with questions about Anaheim's Jean-Sebastien Giguere and avoiding a repeat of the 2003 Western Conference finals, when he gave up only one goal in the Ducks' sweep of the playoff series.
Little did the Wild know there was a good chance it would never face Giguere. As the Ducks go for another sweep tonight at Xcel Energy Center, this time in a first-round matchup, Ilya Bryzgalov almost certainly will be back in goal for the fourth consecutive game.
Bryzgalov has not stood on his head like Giguere did three years ago -- the Ducks are so good defensively that it's simply not necessary -- but the 26-year-old from Russia has been very good.
"He's playing great," Ducks standout defenseman Chris Pronger said. "It's a pretty good luxury to have both him and Jiggy in nets. Certainly Bryz has taken the bull by the horns and really run with it. When he's playing well like that, it's pretty easy to play in front of him."
Entering Monday's games, Bryzgalov had the second-best goals-against average (1.34) and save percentage (.948) in the NHL playoffs and the most victories (three).
This is the second consecutive season in which Bryzgalov has found himself playing a key role in the playoffs after limited work in the regular season. A year ago, Bryz- galov helped lead the Ducks to the conference finals, playing in 11 games and leading the league in goals-against (1.46), save percentage (.944) and shutouts (three). He played in all four games of the Ducks' conference semifinal series against Colorado, becoming only the fourth rookie goaltender to win all four games of a playoff series sweep.
This came after Giguere came back from an injury late in the season and struggled upon his return. The witty Bryzgalov tried to convince reporters in his limited English on Monday that he couldn't quite recall his success. "I forget about a year ago," he said. "I have really, really short memory. Sometimes if you ask me what date today [is] I can't tell you. ... I know it's a Monday, but what number?"
Bryzgalov can be forgiven if he has wiped most of the 2006-07 season from his memory. Giguere rebounded to set a franchise record with 36 victories in 56 games. Bryzgalov played in only 27 games and posted a 10-8-6 record with a 2.47 goals-against. Injuries also limited him.
But with Giguere's infant son having a medical issue as the playoffs began, Ducks coach Randy Carlyle again turned to Bryzgalov. So far he hasn't been disappointed.
"I think there has been a maturing process that has taken place with Bryzgalov," said Carlyle, who saw the goalie go 5-1-3 in his last eight games of the regular season with a 1.96 goals-against. "We asked a lot of him over the course of the season in some of the areas that you guys probably don't see. But he's definitely stuck by the program that we've tried to lay out for him. He's worked hard at it, and he's now delivering for us."
Judd Zulgad • jzulgad@startribune.com
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