Jiggy woke up after Game 3 of the Western Conference finals and knew he had to play better.
The reminder was right outside his window.
"The 5-0 game, I got toilet-papered at my home by Red Wings fans, so I thought, 'I've got to raise my level here,' " Anaheim Ducks goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere said.
Since that lopsided loss, when he gave up three goals on 13 shots before being pulled in the second period, Giguere certainly has raised his playing level.
Evoking memories of 2003, when he was the playoffs MVP as Anaheim reached the Stanley Cup finals for the first time, Giguere has stopped 36 shots in each of the past two games to help the Ducks take a 3-2 lead over Detroit in the West finals.
They'll try to wrap the series up tonight at home. Should the Red Wings win, the teams will return to Detroit for a deciding Game 7 Thursday night. Ottawa clinched the Eastern Conference championship series against Buffalo by winning Game 5 Saturday and awaits the Western winner for the Stanley Cup showdown.
Giguere ran his mark in overtime playoff games to 12-1 with Anaheim's 2-1 victory in Game 5 in Detroit Sunday, his second extra-time win of the series. He kept the Ducks in it until Scott Niedermayer scored with 48 seconds remaining in regulation, and Teemu Selanne won it 11:57 into overtime.
"Jiggy played fantastic for us," defenseman Chris Pronger said.
Another Ducks blue liner, Sean O'Donnell, said Giguere is able to rise to the challenge.
"I think Jiggy is one of those players, once the stakes get higher, you either kind of crumble under the adversity or you raise your game and things seem to slow down for you," O'Donnell said.
"Jiggy seems to be one of those guys, whether it be in the third period or a 5 on 3 or an overtime, he seems to kind of calm down and elevate his play. There are other goalies who will make more spectacular saves, but rarely will he let in a bad one."
He'd rather not shuffle off Daniel Briere has heard the rumors that he's heading to Nashville, Philadelphia, or Montreal, ready to cash in once free agency opens in July.
Not so fast, the Buffalo Sabres cocaptain said after he and his teammates cleaned out their lockers yesterday.
"My first, my probably biggest wish right now would be to be a part of this team," Briere said.
"The Sabres, if they're interested, they're going to have the first chance. They're going to have the best chance. And if that doesn't work out, then we'll start looking at different options."
Briere, coming off a 95-point season and projected to attract offers well above the team-high $5 million one-year deal he received in arbitration last summer, said he'd be willing to sign for less than what he might be worth on the open market to stay in Buffalo.
Another question is whether the Sabres can keep both Briere and cocaptain Chris Drury, who is eligible to be an unrestricted free agent July 1 and is expected to command a hefty raise after making $3.15 million last season.
Meanwhile, Sabres forward Dainius Zubrus, who is also eligible to become an unrestricted free agent, confirmed he was sidelined by a knee injury in Buffalo's season-ending loss to Ottawa.
He said his knee began hurting during the second-round series against the New York Rangers, won by Buffalo in six games. After playing the first three games against Ottawa, Zubrus was limited to four minutes in Game 4 before sitting out Saturday.