EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. ? Talk about culture shock.

As the Anaheim Mighty Ducks traveled from the comfortable confines of the Pond to the inhospitable New Jersey swampland for Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals, they found themselves as far away from Fantasyland as possible.

In Anaheim, the colorful local fictional characters are Mickey, Goofy and Donald. In New Jersey, they’re the Sopranos. If the Ducks didn’t know they weren’t in friendly and oh-so-sunny Southern California any longer, they knew it when they pulled into their rain-drenched team hotel and found it swarming with fans — not of hockey, but of several rap stars performing at nearby Giants Stadium.

It is in this setting that the Ducks will try tonight to do what would truly have been seen as a fantasy before the season started: close within a victory of winning the Stanley Cup.

Convinced that their twin 3-0 losses on New Jersey ice last week are nothing but a distant memory following two momentum-restoring overtime wins at home, the Ducks talked Wednesday of not wasting what could be a once-in-a-lifetime chance.

“You could coach or play in the league forever and you might not get back to here,” said first-year coach Mike Babcock, who inherited a team that was coming off three straight last-place finishes.

But to win the Cup, the Ducks must win at least once at Continental Airlines Arena, where they are 0-8 since Feb. 11, 1996. They realize the task will be difficult, but that waiting until a Game 7, if it is necessary, likely would be far more difficult than winning Game 5.

“This our chance, and we can’t fall down,” defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh said.

“We’re confident we can win some things here,” goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere said. “Obviously, if we want to win the thing, we need to win one here.”

The Ducks were the best road club in the playoffs, winning six of seven, before a dismal debut in New Jersey that suggested the series would end quickly. It didn’t, but Devils coach Pat Burns thinks returning home will get the Devils back to the way they were playing a week ago.

There was one setback Wednesday for the Devils. Center Joe Nieuwendyk, out since the Eastern Conference finals because of a hip-related injury, tried skating but quickly shut it down and almost certainly won’t play in Game 5.

“There was no reason to push it,” said Nieuwendyk, who didn’t skate at full speed before leaving the ice. “We wanted to get a barometer of where it was, and the trainer indicated I should come off. It’s frustrating, but it’s something I have to deal with.”

The Devils were hoping that even a less-than-100 percent Nieuwendyk could help on faceoffs, which the Ducks are winning at a 61 percent rate. Burns didn’t officially rule him out, but he wasn’t optimistic.

“We thought maybe he’d be able to play, but he can’t. We’ve got to get that out of our minds,” Burns said.

Even without Nieuwendyk, the Devils felt they were the aggressors when the series started, only to become passive and tentative in the 3-2 and 1-0 losses in Anaheim. But the Devils are more comfortable at home, where they have allowed only 10 goals while winning 10 of 11 playoff games. They’re only 4-6 on the road.

The Ducks want to keep the games close and low-scoring and the Devils on their heels; ride their hot goaltender, Giguere; and don’t do anything foolish or reactive that would let the Devils get back to what they had last week.

“It’s like Mike Babcock said, I’ve never seen a fan score a goal or take a hit or give a hit,” the Ducks’ Steve Thomas said. “It’s playoff time, and it doesn’t matter (where the game is played).”

The Devils think it does.

“We’ve got a good mood going,” Burns said. “Everybody is excited and happy to be back home and ready to go.”