Canucks’ late-night magic beats Ducks in second overtime

Sensing that his team had already been written off after the Ducks’ Game 1 rout to open the Western Conference semifinals, Vancouver Coach Alain Vigneault struck a defiant tone following the Canucks’ practice on Thursday.

“Everybody is having this team out to be almost unbeatable,” Vigneault told a group of assembled reporters. “We’re going to step on the ice and try to prove differently.”

In Game 2, the Canucks did just that.

Fittingly, it took some extra time to do it as Jeff Cowan scored 7 minutes, 49 seconds into the second overtime to give Vancouver a 2-1 victory in front of a stunned Honda Center overflow crowd of 17,392 Friday night.

It was the Canucks’ fourth overtime game in these playoffs and third that ended in victorious fashion as they evened the series with Game 3 on Sunday night in Vancouver.

It was also a striking retort to the Ducks’ stunningly easy 5-1 win two nights before.

“There was a lot of talk that we were overmatched and they were a much better team than we were,” Vigneault said. “But it seemed like after the first game, this series was already over with.

“All we wanted to do was to put a good, solid game on the ice and you know that is what we did.”

The teams could only trade second-period goals through regulation as the Ducks’ Jean-Sebastien Giguere and Vancouver’s Roberto Luongo waged a duel in goal.

Giguere stopped 47 shots and Luongo, who hadn’t beaten the Ducks in four previous games this season, made 43 saves as he was sharp all night and occasionally outstanding.

Cowan ultimately made the difference.

Vancouver forward Trevor Linden won a puck battle in the corner with the Ducks’ Rob Niedermayer and kicked it toward the slot. Cowan threw a shot toward Giguere that squeaked between the goalie’s right skate and the left post.

“I just think that I shot it real hard and real quick,” Cowan said. “Jiggy was over there but it just snuck in between or under his pads. I really don’t know how it got it in but it went in and that’s the main thing.”

It was the first goal Giguere has ever allowed in an overtime period. His streak of not allowing an overtime goal ended at 197 minutes, 52 seconds.

“I was in the right place,” Giguere said. “I’d play it the same way. It’s just the way it went. I’m not going to beat myself up about it. It’s part of the game.”

Markus Naslund gave the Canucks a 1-0 lead, and Travis Moen tied it midway through the second.

The Ducks’ No. 1 line of Andy McDonald, Teemu Selanne and Chris Kunitz tore through the tired Canucks for four goals and nine points in Game 1. But other than an assist for Selanne, the trio was kept off the scoresheet.

Selanne was the personification of the Ducks’ frustration. If he wasn’t robbed outright by Luongo, he either chipped shots over the net or redirected tries wide of it.

“It’s nice to win but you can’t win all of them,” Selanne said. “I’m not going to sleep very well. I’d like to have a couple of those chances back. But that’s hockey.”

It was Selanne who did help tie the game for the Ducks as he got loose on a breakaway following a breakout pass from Samuel Pahlsson.

Selanne went in alone on Luongo and deked the goalie to get an open net. Luongo reached back to make an amazing save with his glove but Moen pounced on the rebound and put it past the fallen goaltender.

But as the game went on, the Canucks continued to keep their confidence.

“We were in this situation quite a bit in the first round with overtimes and close games,” Luongo said. “We feel comfortable and confident in those situations that we can get the job done.”

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eric.stephens@latimes.com