The Associated Press

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Two games into a non-competitive Stanley Cup Finals for the Mighty Ducks, no finalist since 1945 has done so little in so much time.

No wins. No goals. No momentum. No semblance of an offense. No reason to think the New Jersey Devils, two wins from their third Stanley Cup in nine seasons, are about to let them back into a series in which they have yet to threaten to score a goal, much less win a game.

The Ducks weren't just beaten in identical 3-0 games in which they managed just 16 shots in each, they barely were competitive.

Martin Brodeur, the first goalie to start the finals with two shutouts since Toronto's Frank McCool against Detroit in 1945, has turned aside everything he has seen with a confident calmness that must be unnerving to the Ducks.

A 2-0 lead isn't a guarantee the Devils will hoist yet another Lou Lamoriello-produced Stanley Cup in a few days; the Devils, after all, led Ottawa 3-1 in the Eastern Conference finals not even two weeks ago and wound up having to score late in Game 7 to advance.

Even as they return tonight to the Pond, where they are 6-1 in the postseason, the Ducks must be mighty concerned they've conceded too big of an edge and too much momentum to a team that is playing in its third finals in four years.

"We're not competing as hard as they are competing," goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere said. "We're not a team that is overly skilled. Our game is all about working hard, trying to outwork the other team."

So far, whatever the Ducks are doing isn't working. They're not getting bodies to the net to create traffic, as the Devils did on their first two goals in Game 2 Thursday. They're not making Brodeur work hard for his saves. They're not getting the puck out of their zone with any speed or consistency. They're not clearing out the net in front of Giguere, who was near perfect in the first three rounds but has been far from perfect in the finals.

The only sign of emotion or intensity by the Ducks was Giguere smashing his stick after being beaten Thursday on Jeff Friesen's third goal in two games.

The Red Wings, Stars and Wild all were down 2-0 to the Mighty Ducks, and none responded well. Now it is the Ducks who are down 2-0, and even they seem uncertain how they will react.