By Jay Posner
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

ANAHEIM ? No one had to tell the Anaheim Mighty Ducks what was at stake last night in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals: nothing less than the Stanley Cup itself.

The Ducks trailed New Jersey 2-0 in a best-of-seven series so lopsided Anaheim coach Mike Babcock said it didn't deserve to be called a series.

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"We haven't created a series yet," Babcock said at the team's morning skate.

Not to mention a goal. Anaheim had been blanked in Games 1 and 2, and the Ducks knew they would have to a) score and b) win Game 3 in order to maintain their dream of becoming the first California team to win the most famous trophy in sports. Not officially, of course, but close enough.

"We've got to respond," Babcock said.

And so they did. Thanks to their own inspired play, plus a couple of rare mistakes by New Jersey goaltender Martin Brodeur, the Ducks pulled out a 3-2 victory on Ruslan Salei's goal at 6:59 of overtime.

In the first Finals game ever at Arrowhead Pond, the Ducks picked up their sixth overtime victory of these playoffs without a defeat and cut New Jersey's series lead to 2-1. Game 4 is here tomorrow night.

"Now it's a series," said Ducks goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who stopped 29 shots and set a playoff record for the longest overtime scoreless streak (167:48). "Everybody was very emotional. Everybody played a great game and the crowd was unbelievable."

The emotion came in part from Giguere, who challenged his teammates on the day between Games 2 and 3 to play with passion.

"He was right," defenseman Rob Niedermayer said. "We were sitting there watching the first two games.

"We weren't skating at all, and if you don't skate against a team like Jersey, they'll tear you apart. When we skate, we're a whole different team."

The Ducks had two more shots on goal (18) in the first two periods than they'd had in each of the first two games, and the result was their first two goals of the series, although one was somewhat lucky and the other was a flat-out fluke.

The first goal, by Marc Chouinard (who had only three goals all season), came at 3:39 of the second period when Brodeur failed to get back into position after playing the puck along the boards. That goal ended Brodeur's scoreless streak at 143:39, the second-longest ever at the start of the Finals (Toronto's Frank McCool went 188:35 without allowing a goal in 1945).

But it was the second goal that might have changed the series. Sandis Ozolinsh shot the puck into the Devils zone from outside the blue line, but as it was headed toward the corner, it hit Brodeur's stick, which had slipped from the goalie's hands. The puck took a sharp left turn and went through Brodeur's legs and into the net.

"I was laughing at myself a little bit," Brodeur said. "What are the odds that you are going to have your stick just slip out of your hands?"

Brodeur said some of his teammates were laughing at him as well, but they all managed to recover and New Jersey eventually tied the game near the midway point of the third period on a tip-in goal by Scott Gomez.

In the overtime, Ducks center Adam Oates beat Pascal Rheaume on a face-off in the left circle and got the puck back to Salei, who is hardly Anaheim's most accurate shooter ("He bangs them off the glass with the best of them," Babcock joked). But Salei blasted a one-timer past Brodeur to give Anaheim the first Finals victory in franchise history.

"We needed to get some momentum. We needed to get that first win," Salei said. "But it's only one win for us."

The Ducks still must overcome history; since the best-of-seven format was introduced in 1939, only three of 40 teams have rallied from an 0-2 deficit to win the Cup. But there's a bright side: Only one has ever rallied from 0-3.

"At least this series now looks like it might have a chance to be a series," Babcock said.

On this night, the Ducks couldn't ask for anything more.