NHL playoffs | Ducks get 4-2 road victory over Stars

DALLAS — Anaheim finally resembled a defending Stanley Cup champion — at least long enough to avoid a nearly insurmountable deficit.

Chris Pronger scored two power-play goals after assisting on the Ducks' first goal and Anaheim held on for a 4-2 victory Tuesday night over the Dallas Stars, who lost for the seventh time in their last eight home playoff games and missed a chance to take a commanding 3-0 series lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round playoff series.

Anaheim led 4-0 before Stars captain Brenden Morrow scored two power-play goals 1:39 apart in the third period, but Ducks goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere held firm the rest of the way in Game 3.

Giguere made 31 saves, four of them coming during a four-minute power play after Mathieu Schneider got called for a double-minor penalty after a high-stick on Morrow.

The Ducks scored three goals in the first 14:31 — on a mere four shots — to quickly prove what they had said since losing the first two games at home: the series was far from over.

Pronger was barely a factor in the first two games.

"It was nice to chip in," he said after the victory. "We had a lot of guys step up and improve their efforts. It was better than it was in Anaheim, that's for sure."

Stars coach Dave Tippett said, "We looked jittery and made some uncharacteristic mistakes. The reality check came in tonight about how hard this series is going to be."

Other games

Sharks 3, at Flames 2

Joe Thornton's first goal of the playoffs was a big one.

Thornton scored the winner with 9.4 seconds left in regulation to give second-seeded San Jose a victory over No. 7 Calgary in Game 4 of their West first-round series. The best-of-seven series is tied at 2.

Thornton tipped Douglas Murray's shot from the point past Flames goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff.

"I was just waiting until there was under 10 seconds left in the game," Thornton said, joking.

Calgary set a franchise low for shots on goal in a playoff game with 10. The Sharks had 32 shots on goal.

"They completely outplayed us," Flames coach Mike Keenan said.

At Avalanche 5, Wild 1

Jose Theodore stopped 24 of 25 shots and Colorado used a three-goal first period to rout Minnesota, tying their first-round West series at two games each.

The first three games of the series — as well as the last two when the teams met in the 2003 playoffs — each went into overtime and ended in 3-2 scores.

Canadiens 1, at Bruins 0

Patrice Brisebois snapped a scoreless tie with a power-play goal late in the second period, rookie Carey Price posted his first playoff shutout and Montreal took a 3-1 lead in its East first-round series against Boston.

Price stopped 27 shots for the Canadiens, seeded No. 1 in the East.

At Flyers 6, Capitals 3

Danny Briere collected two goals and an assist, helping Philadelphia to beat Washington and take a 2-1 lead in their East first-round series.

The Flyers scored three goals in a 2:33 span in the first period. Briere scored first, and after Eric Fehr quickly tied the score with his first playoff goal, Scottie Hartnell and Sami Kapanen connected 17 seconds apart to give Philadelphia a 3-1 lead.

Ex-Seattle Thunderbird Brooks Laich scored a goal for Washington.

Note

• Tampa Bay center Vincent Lecavalier had surgery to repair an injured labrum in his right shoulder.