Air Corkum Takes Flight, Gives Ducks a Thrill : Hockey: His effort results in a goal that proves the team won’t go down without a fight.

It won’t go down as the prettiest goal in Mighty Duck history, but it surely will be remembered as the first time a Duck took flight in Anaheim Arena.

Down a goal to the New York Islanders with time running out and goalie Ron Tugnutt on the bench in favor of a sixth attacker, center Bob Corkum went airborne to tie the score, 3-3, Sunday.

Corkum dived over a sprawling Islander defender, getting enough wood on the puck to swat it past goalie Ron Hextall with 32.7 seconds left in the third period, sending 15,386 into hysteria.

It wouldn’t last long, however. New York’s Pierre Turgeon blasted the game-winning goal at the 2:43 mark of overtime, giving the Islanders a 4-3 victory.

But for a brief moment, the Ducks could say they played the Islanders on even terms. Coming on the heels of a disappointing, flat-footed debut in a 7-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings Friday, it marked a significant step in the right direction.

“It was a mess,” Corkum said of the wild scramble in front of Hextall. “Terry Yake threw it out in front. I kind of whiffed on the first shot. Then I took a lunge and gave it a wedge shot and got it over (Hextall’s) pads.

“You do what you can to get it in there.”

The play began with Anatoli Semenov, Joe Sacco and Yake stationed behind the goal line. Semenov got the puck to Sacco who moved it to Yake, who was directly behind the net. He worked his way around the right side of the net and tried to stuff it past Hextall.

The puck bounced to Corkum in the slot. His first try was smothered, but he pounced on the rebound and somehow beat Hextall while diving head first.

“Bob Corkum was there to pick up the garbage,” said Yake, who scored his first goal of the season at the 7:20 mark of the second period. “It was a great goal and a good effort all around.”

Not that Yake saw the finished product. With all the bodies in front of the net, he saw nothing. Told of Corkum’s dive, he said, “It’s an even better play than I thought.

“You have to pay the price in front of the net and that’s what Bob did. He deserves that goal.”

Corkum’s goal was all about hard work; Turgeon’s was about a pretty, behind-the-back pass and a deadly slap shot. Those two goals defined the differences between the Ducks and the Islanders Sunday.

It’s no secret that the Ducks need grit and determination simply to be competitive.

“We’re not the most talented team in the league, but we have to be the hardest working,” Corkum said.

That’s been a familiar refrain around the Duck locker room this year, one surely to be heard again and again as the season grinds on.

With a limited supply of skaters, passers and shooters to match the likes of Turgeon, the Ducks have only hustle to carry them.

Corkum is fairly typical of the Ducks, a fourth line player last season with the Buffalo Sabres who scored six goals with four assists in 68 games.

“I was on a checking line with Buffalo,” he said. “I might get six or seven shifts a game and be sitting 10 to 12 minutes at a time. That makes it tough. I’m glad to be getting an opportunity.”

Sunday, Corkum was right in the midst of it all, giving the Ducks a chance to win in overtime.

“The attitude on the bench was that we were going for the win,” he said. “We weren’t going to be happy with a tie.”