Breakthrough comes in win over Sharks

It took 18 games, but a first was finally accomplished by the Ducks this season.

A 3-2 shootout victory Friday night over San Jose was the first time the Ducks have won after trailing through two periods. Given that there have been 10 times in which they entered the third period behind, it was a significant accomplishment.

It was also just the second come-from-behind win for Anaheim, with the other coming in the home opener against Boston when the Ducks erased a 1-0 first-period deficit.

Resiliency is something Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle has cultivated over his two-plus seasons. In a bit of irony, it was a 6-5 overtime loss to Phoenix on Wednesday that may have triggered those comeback capacities. In that game, the Ducks erased three deficits to force an extra period.

“You don’t like to be down a couple of goals,” forward Travis Moen said. “But if we are down a couple, we can come back and get back into games.”

The last two games may be a result of what occurred Monday night against Dallas when the Ducks gave up a late goal in the first period and never answered physically or emotionally in a dispiriting 5-0 loss.

“I think the Dallas game was a shock to us,” Carlyle said. “That was disappointing because we couldn’t muster any emotion for the third period. And that was a shock. We’ve been able to live by that never-say-die attitude. And it became an exclamation point where that wasn’t acceptable.”

Said Moen: “It was kind of an embarrassing game for us. To get beat like that, we knew we had to come out stronger. I think we have the last couple of games.”

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Center Andy McDonald broke out of his offensive slump with the tying goal against the Sharks in the third period and the clincher in the shootout.

As the media gathered around McDonald’s locker afterward, center Todd Marchant jokingly told his teammate to grab a podium to speak behind. McDonald had just two goals and eight points entering the game.

“It’s nice to see a goal scorer finally get on the board,” Carlyle said. “Andy McDonald got a big goal, the type of goal that he’s capable of scoring, and then scores the clinching goal in the shootout. Those are all things that are big morale boosters for a player that has been down on his luck a little bit.”

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Winning a Stanley Cup is translating into bigger business at the box office.

Through Nov. 4, the Ducks have increased their average attendance by 19.4% through the same date in 2006-07, which is the biggest improvement in the Western Conference. They have a 44-game sellout streak that includes last season’s playoffs.

The Ducks are averaging 17,204 fans a game. The Honda Center’s official listed capacity is 17,174.

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eric.stephens@latimes.com