If the Anaheim Ducks should advance to the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals, they'll have goaltender J.S. Giguere to thank for it.

In Game Five of the Ducks-Detroit Red Wings Western Conference Finals, Giguere flat-out robbed the Wings, who were clearly the better team in regulation but ultimately came up short, falling in overtime 2-1.

Giguere wasn't perfect, as the goal by Detroit's Andreas Lilja handcuffed him high to the glove side, but that was the only one he'd allow after that.

The Wings had their way with the Ducks for most of Game Five. They out-shot the Ducks by a wide margin, dominated them in the second period due in large part to the Ducks taking undisciplined penalties yet again and out-hit them, once again proving that the Ducks no longer have a physical advantage in this series.

Yet try as they might, they couldn't beat Giguere. Sure, Nicklas Lidstrom rang one off the goalpost in the third, but it's the ones that go between the posts and across the goal line that count. After the Lilja goal, Giguere was flawless. He did what a big game goaltender does when his team is over-matched by keeping them in the game and giving them a chance to win.

The Ducks got that chance within the final two minutes of the third, when Detroit forward Pavel Datsyuk took a bad penalty and Johan Franzen failed to clear the puck on the ensuing Ducks PP, a six-on-four with Giguere pulled for the extra attacker. Scott Niedermayer pounced on the loose puck and his shot struck Lidstrom's stick and ricocheted over Dominik Hasek's shoulder for the tying goal.

There's still a perception that Giguere isn't a "big game" goaltender. Yet going into overtime in this one, he's the all-time winning percentage leader for goaltenders in playoff overtime, going into this one with an 11-1 record.

Make that 12-1 now, but it was arguably the easiest playoff OT victory for Giguere. His teammates needed "Giggy" in regulation, but they didn't really need him in overtime, as they regained their poise and their game, resulting in Lilja's turnover that resulted in Teemu Selanne's winner.

The Ducks have the Wings on the brink of elimination because of J.S. Giguere.