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Rookie helps pull Ducks out of tailspin in 4-3 overtime win

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A slight rookie who had never scored an NHL goal brought the Ducks back by scoring two in the third period Tuesday, propelling them to a 4-3 overtime victory over Dallas that ended a dogged five-game losing streak.

Dan Sexton, a 5-foot-10, 170-pound winger, forced overtime after he tied the score with 1:02 left in regulation in only his third NHL game, earning a curtain call as the game’s No. 1 star after Saku Koivu scored the game-winner with 47 seconds left in overtime.

“I’d say it was probably the coolest feeling -- take my previous coolest feeling and multiply it by 10, if not more. That’s what it was,” said Sexton, a 22-year-old from Apple Valley, Minn., whose twin brother is professional snowboarder Joe Sexton. “It really just felt like a dream. It was unbelievable.

“I was kind of like in shock.”

For the Ducks -- who had trailed, 3-0, earlier in the game -- it was a jolt of youthful exuberance that broke a draining losing streak, with four of the five losses by one goal and the last two in shootouts.

“Tonight he scored two big goals, and he probably doesn’t realize how big they are for our hockey club,” Coach Randy Carlyle said, adding that Sexton is “not big in stature, in size, but a huge heart.”

“You’ve just got to take your hat off to the guy. Hopefully he can continue to develop and bring a little bit more of that.

“The importance of the win, the magnitude of the win is huge for our group.

“Every coach would love to use a win like this as a springboard for us to play to a higher level. We’ve played better the last four or five games. We were just finding ways to lose hockey games, blowing leads and losing shootouts and losing in overtime. It was difficult for everybody to keep their head and their focus in the right direction. We were able to do it.”

Koivu’s overtime goal off a three-on-one break was a breakthrough for him too, only his fourth since signing as a free agent in the off-season.

“It felt great,” Koivu said. “Getting the winner in OT, there is a lot of stuff you can build on and hopefully bring to the next game.”

The Ducks fell behind, 3-0, with 6:20 left in the second period, but it was hard to hang the goals completely on Jean-Sebastien Giguere, making his second start in a row as Carlyle deviated from switching goalies with every loss.

Brad Richards scored a power-play goal, Mike Modano scored off a two-on-one break and Richards added a goal with a hard shot from the right faceoff circle that deflected off the Ducks’ James Wisniewski.

The Ducks thwarted the shutout bid with 1:36 left in the second when Joffrey Lupul scored on a breakaway, his fourth goal in three games after missing seven because of back spasms.

Sexton, playing his third NHL game after being called up from Manitoba in the American Hockey League on Friday, scored his first NHL goal at 6:08 of the third. Bobby Ryan skated in front of the net and passed the puck to Sexton, waiting at the corner.

He scored his second as the third period ticked down, carrying the puck across the blue line and fending off a series of Dallas defenders before whipping a sharp-angled shot past goaltender Marty Turco.

Etc.

Winger Evgeny Artyukhin returned to the lineup after two games as a healthy scratch, his penance for a series of penalties in the offensive zone. George Parros sat out as a healthy scratch.

robynnorwood@verizon.net

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