Anaheim Ducks 5, Chicago Blackhawks 2 FINAL

CHICAGO (AP) _ Steve Rucchin credited Jean-Sebastian Giguere with making the Anahein Mighty Ducks' win look easy.

Giguere made 34 saves and Rucchin scored two third-period goals and an assist to lead the Mighty Ducks over the Chicago Blackhawks 5-2 Friday night.

``It wasn't really a 5-2 game,'' Rucchin said. ``It was a lot closer. They had a lot of good chances. Once again our goaltender, as he has been since the All-Star break, was responsible for our getting two points.

``We had a pretty good team effort, but it wasn't pretty,'' Rucchin added. ``We found a way to win, or basically J.S. found a way for us to win.''

Petr Sykora, Sergei Fedorov and Rob Niedermayer also scored for Anaheim, which rolled to its third straight win. The Mighty Ducks are 9-3-1-1 in their last 14 games.

Chicago rallied from a 2-0 deficit to tie it midway throught the second period.

``We played well in the first period and then we kind of went to sleep in the second,'' Anaheim coach Mike Babcock said.

Niedermayer's goal with 3:33 left in the second gave Anaheim a 3-2 lead. Then Rucchin _ with help from linemates Vaclac Prospal and Joffrey Lupul _ put the game out of reach in the third.

``I talked to Ruch and his line about their last game,'' Babcock said. ``We didn't think they were very darn good actually. They responded.''

Chicago's Eric Daze, playing his first game since undergoing back surgery on Dec. 3, had a goal and an assist. Deron Quint also scored for the Blackhawks, who are winless in five straight (0-3-2).

Daze's goal was his first this season. He has missed 63 games with a herniated disc in his lower back.

``Offensively, I thought we had enough that we could have won,'' Daze said. ``but defensively we struggled in the game.''

Michael Leighton made 31 saves, several on rebounds and close-in chances.

Sykora opened the scoring 1:14 into the first period. After Chicago defenseman Jim Vandermeer lost the puck in the slot, Sykora moved in alone on Leighton and fired in a low shot.

Fedorov's power-play goal with 6:29 left in the first gave Anaheim a 2-0 lead. He banged in a shot from a scramble in front of the net.

Quint cut it to 2-1 on a shot from the left point at 11:02 of the second. And Daze tied it 2:23 later on a low slap shot from the top of left circle. The drive struck Giguere's pads, but trickled in between them.

Niedermayer put the Mighty Ducks back in front 3-2 with 3:33 left in the second.

After Leighton stopped three shots during an Anaheim flurry, Niedermayer skated from behind the net, turned and ripped a shot just under the crossbar.

Rucchin made it 4-2 with a power-play goal and 4:35 of the third. He slipped away from coverage in front of the net and fired in Sykora's feed from the corner.

Rucchin completed the scoring with 7:23 left in the third.