Ducks Score Last to Gain Another First : Hockey: Skalde’s goal at 2:56 of extra period helps Anaheim defeat St. Louis, 2-1, for first overtime victory.

When Jarrod Skalde rewinds the mental tape of his first game with the Mighty Ducks, he can fast-forward past the missed opportunity on a breakaway and cut straight to overtime.

That’s when Skalde broke up the goaltender’s duel between Guy Hebert and St. Louis’ Curtis Joseph by stuffing in a rebound at 2:56 of the extra period to give the Ducks a 2-1 victory before 17,017 Sunday at Anaheim Arena.

“I just went to the net and got my stick on it. I didn’t even see how it went in, I was falling down,” said Skalde who was immediately smothered by his delirious teammates. It was the Ducks’ 10th victory of the season, their first in overtime.

Skalde drove to the net after Terry Yake’s shot from the left side and shoved the puck past Joseph, who had made 43 saves.

Skalde joined the team Thursday after an injury to leading scorer Anatoli Semenov caused the Ducks to call up another center from minor league San Diego. He missed on his first three chances, but he came through when it counted most.

“This is the highlight of my career, that’s for sure,” said Skalde, 22, who had two goals in 27 previous NHL games with the New Jersey Devils.

He made a winner of Hebert, who last season was Joseph’s backup in St. Louis. Joseph’s virtuosity meant Hebert rarely played, but the two were so friendly that Hebert chose Joseph’s No. 31 when he came to Anaheim.

Hebert made 31 saves, none more crucial than when he stopped Ron Sutter on a breakaway less than a minute into overtime. The Blues got the golden chance when defenseman Sean Hill jumped up to try to keep the puck in the Ducks’ end, only to see Sutter grab the puck and skate out ahead alone.

“I tried to play him as honest as possible. He made a good move, but I stayed with him,” Hebert said.

Coach Ron Wilson, sporting a black eye and three stitches after being hit with a puck in Saturday’s practice, praised his team for keeping after it against Joseph.

After an uncharacteristic outing in the Blues’ 9-1 loss to the Kings on Saturday, St. Louis was threatening to shut out the Ducks well into the third period. But Alexei Kasatonov tied the score at 12:19 of the third, and the Ducks forced overtime.

“The reason we were in overtime was Curtis Joseph, who was spectacular as he is a lot of nights,” Wilson said. “I was afraid we’d lose, 1-0, and that already happened to Guy once. He won the game for himself when he stopped Ron Sutter on the breakaway.”

The Blues’ only goal came with one minute remaining in the first period, when Hebert got most of defenseman Rick Zombo’s shot from the slot, only to see it roll in slowly to his left.

stopped all but one.

Skalde, who had 33 points in 23 games in San Diego, had a breakaway in the second period--actually a 3-0 rush--but lost his balance and managed a weak shot. Later, he missed wide from the slot.

“I had a breakaway and a great chance in front and I missed. I think it must have been nerves,” he said.

He took the pressure off at the end.

“I don’t think there’s any pressure. I’m not going to replace Tony Semenov, that’s for sure,” Skalde said. “He’s a world-class player. I think if I do the job defensively and chip in occasionally the team will be happy.”

So far, so good.