Goal Through the Pads Frustrates Hebert

Guy Hebert sat slumped in his locker stall, jersey off but all his other goaltending gear still strapped on. He wore the unmistakable look of a man filled with frustration and disbelief.

“I still can’t believe we’re sitting here talking about a loss,” he said after San Jose defenseman Tom Pederson’s overtime goal beat the Mighty Ducks, 2-1, Sunday at Anaheim Arena.

“There’s no way we should have lost this game. In retrospect, we should have won the game about 5-0.”

Eventually, he said, he would wander into the Ducks’ videotape room to have a look at the improbable, bad angle goal that left the Ducks losers for the sixth consecutive game.

What he would see was a loose puck to his left. He’d see himself poke it into the corner with his stick. He’d watch Pederson pounce on it and fire a shot from a terrible angle.

He could hit the rewind button again and again, but might never see how the puck trickled through his pads and into the net.

“I have no idea how it got between my pads,” Hebert said before seeing the replay. “It was kind of a bad angle and I had it covered against the post. Like I said, I can’t believe there was enough room for the puck to get in there.

“I felt it go between my pads. For a second, I thought it got stuck. I mean it happens all the time . . . It’s hard to believe it actually went through there.”

Instead of a victory, or at least a tie, Hebert walked away with a heartbreaking loss. He could have had the first shutout in Duck history, but a defensive lapse led to Jeff McLean’s game-tying goal at the 7:34 mark of the third period. He might have had a tie, but Pederson’s goal left him searching for answers.

“It’s still early in the season,” Hebert said. “It’s very frustrating. Again, this was a game we should have won.”

Someone asked if there were any positive aspects to the game.

“We played quite well,” said Hebert, who made 20 saves. “One breakdown ties it up. I still thought (in overtime) we were in a good position to win. Or at least get a tie. If there’s any positive in it, it’s that we’re back to where we were playing five games ago.”