ANAHEIM, Calif., May 5 (UPI) -- Anaheim and Ottawa will try to advance to the conference finals for the first time in franchise history Monday night when they continue their respective series.
Also Monday, the Vancouver Canucks look to reach the Western Conference finals for the first time since 1994 when they host the Minnesota Wild in Game Five of their series.
Anaheim, which had made only one prior trip to the Western Conference semifinals before completing a stunning sweep of the defending champion Detroit Red Wings in the quarterfinals, failed in its first chance to eliminate the top-seeded Dallas Stars on Saturday.
The Mighty Ducks played eight straight one-goal contests before rookie Niko Kapanen scored twice as the Stars chased Jean-Sebastien Giguere after two periods Saturday and posted a 4-1 victory in Game Five.
Dallas has never rallied from a three games to one deficit to win a playoff series. Giguere, who is 7-2 with a 1.47 goals-against average in the playoffs, has not lost consecutive games since Feb. 28 and March 2.
"All I can do is forget about it," Giguere said after Saturday's loss. "The next game is a new challenge. This is a learning process. You can't win every game. They are a great team and matched our intensity (Saturday)."
If the Stars win, they host Game Seven on Wednesday.
While the Ducks will try to close out their series at home, the Senators visit Philadelphia for Game Six of their Eastern Conference series.
Ottawa limited Philadelphia to two goals in eliminating the Flyers in five games in the quarterfinals last year. Thus far, the Flyers have managed just nine goals, and face a three games to two deficit as they try to reach the conference finals for the first time since 2000.
On Saturday, Roman Cechmanek surrendered four goals on 16 shots, and was pulled in the second period as the Senators rolled to a 5-2 home-ice win.
Last year, Ottawa blew a three games to two lead and was eliminated in the conference semifinals by the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Philadelphia has trailed three games to two nine times and has won Game Six on four occasions.
The Flyers visit Ottawa on Wednesday if they win Game Six. The winner of the series faces the New Jersey Devils, who eliminated the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games in the other semifinal in the East.
Vancouver continued to get offense from its defensemen Friday as Ed Jovanovski and Brent Sopel got the tying and game-winning goals in a 3-2 overtime win at Minnesota.
Sopel scored a power-play goal 15:52 into overtime to move the Canucks within one game of the conference finals. With 2:06 left in regulation, Jovanovski deflected Sopel's one-timer from just above the left faceoff circle past goaltender Manny Fernandez.
Twelve of Vancouver's 29 goals in the playoffs have come from defensemen.
If the Wild beat the Canucks Monday, they host Game Six on Wednesday.
