Ducks Do Some Road Work at Home : Hockey: For a change, team shows the style at Anaheim Arena that has helped it win out of town.

Just another game, Terry Yake said Friday night.

But it couldn’t have been, not with so much at stake as the Mighty Ducks faced off against the Hartford Whalers.

Hartford was Yake’s old team, the one that left him unprotected in the expansion draft last June, the one he said he looked for first when the NHL schedule was released.

Sweet revenge? Perhaps that was in the back of Yake’s mind. But he said his only thoughts were of winning and halting the Ducks’ disappointing play at Anaheim Arena.

The Ducks went into Friday’s game with the second-worst home record in the league, a 5-14-2 mark that included a neutral-ice victory against Dallas at Phoenix.

Yake and the Ducks left Anaheim Arena winners for the first time since a Dec. 12 victory against St. Louis. He played on a line with Patrik Carnback and Tim Sweeney that accounted for four goals and two assists in a 6-3 victory over the Whalers.

“It was a road game for us to the T,” said Yake, who had one assist.

Meaning?

“Tight-checking, good saves by our goalies, score when we have to, take advantage of mistakes,” Yake explained. “It’s got to be our style.”

The Ducks, 12-12-0 on the road, had seemed to chuck that grinding, opportunistic style at home in favor of a less patient, more wide-open game and they paid the price.

After Wednesday’s 5-2 loss to San Jose, the Ducks met to discuss their home woes.

Friday, Yake said they tuned out all the distractions they believe have kept their minds from the business at hand. They ignored people walking through the dressing room. They turned off the stereo and the television 30 minutes earlier than normal and talked about the Whalers.

Yake no doubt provided a wealth of information.

“I had a bit of an advantage because I knew all the strengths of the players on the other team,” said Yake, who scored 22 goals for Hartford last season.

All that meant little when the Whalers took a 3-0 lead 3:58 into the second period and the Ducks appeared headed for a fifth consecutive home loss.

But Carnback got the Ducks turned around with a goal at the 10:47 mark of the second.

“I don’t think that first goal was the exact turning point, but it was a relief,” Yake said. “(Bob) Corkum scored that short-handed goal right after that and everybody said, ‘OK, we’re right back in the game.’

“Sooner or later we were going to get chances to win the game and we did the last 45-50 minutes. Usually, it takes 60 minutes of good hockey to win. Fortunately, we got away with only 50 tonight.”

At least it was a step in the right direction, a game to remember when they stray too far from their disciplined style of play.