Canucks Take Ducks by Surprise

If the Mighty Ducks told goalie Ron Tugnutt he could carry his new cellular phone out and put it on top of the net with his water bottle, he would probably be tempted.

He and his wife, Lisa, are expecting their first child any day, and Tugnutt is beside himself with excitement and worry. The phone is new, has one purpose, and has never rung.

“If this phone rings, my equipment comes off,” Tugnutt said.

It didn’t ring Sunday, when Tugnutt lasted only one period in the Ducks’ 4-3 loss to Vancouver in front of a sellout crowd of 17,174 at Anaheim Arena.

Tugnutt gave up a goal only nine seconds into the game on Trevor Linden’s shot from the blue line and fell behind, 4-0, after the Canucks added three power-play goals in the first period.

Guy Hebert replaced him to start the second and the Ducks scored three goals to cut the lead to one, but never tied the score, despite Garry Valk’s second-period breakaway chance and Peter Douris’ spin-around shot from the slot that missed wide by inches in the final seconds of the game.

The Ducks erased a 3-0 deficit to beat Hartford, 6-3, on Friday, but they couldn’t come all the way back this time.

“We gave up a lousy goal at the beginning and kind of got back on our heels,” Coach Ron Wilson said. “A couple of mistakes on their power play in the first period did us in.”

Tugnutt, who entrusted the phone to support staff during the game, stood clutching it while waiting to leave after the game was over.

“This being our first, it’s very distracting,” he said. “I find myself thinking about it quite a bit, carrying a phone around wherever I go. This is definitely a big, big moment in my life.”

It’s so big that the Ducks--no Houston Oilers--have told Tugnutt he does not have to make a two-game trip to Toronto and Detroit this week before the All-Star break.

“I would like to have gone and played, but I think that’s very nice of them to think about Ron Tugnutt and his family life first,” he said. “She was told three or four days ago it could happen any day. Since then I can’t get my mind off it, and I think everybody can understand it. It’s a big, big time in my life. We’re pretty excited.”

He was not excited about the first goal, and was upset that the arena lights were not fully on yet.

“But there’s no excuse for it, I should have had it,” he said.

Added Wilson: “We had to stop the first one. That can’t go in. It ends up being the difference in the game.”

It was the second game in a row the Ducks have allowed a goal in the first 30 seconds. The score was 2-0 after Geoff Courtnall put back a rebound from the slot at 10:27 when the Ducks failed to clear the rebound.

It got uglier, with the Canucks scoring on a giveaway at 15:17, when the Ducks’ Bob Corkum lost the puck in his end and Bobby Dollas couldn’t recover it, leaving Vancouver with a 2-on-1 at short range. Courtnall put the puck in the net for his second power-play goal of the game.

Then, with 15 seconds left in the period, Vancouver’s Dave Babych dumped the puck in off the boards, and no Ducks chased it. Pavel Bure picked it up in the right circle and fired. Tugnutt made the initial stop but the puck caromed in off Duck defenseman Alexei Kasatonov’s skate and the Ducks went in trailing, 4-0.

Switching ends after the intermission somehow changed the Ducks’ fortunes. Tugnutt replaced Hebert in a shaky outing against San Jose two games ago, and this time the roles were reversed. Hebert made 15 saves in shutting out the Canucks over the final two periods.

Corkum started the rally with his 15th goal, and Troy Loney and Joe Sacco also added second-period goals. They got no closer.

There have been a shaky few outings recently for the goalies, who have been the cornerstone of the team’s success.

“I think together, Guy and I have both let in some weak goals,” Tugnutt said.

With defensemen Sean Hill and Randy Ladouceur out with minor injuries the last few games, the defense hasn’t been as strong either--particularly the penalty-killing.

Still, Wilson says he isn’t worried about Hebert and Tugnutt, and Tugnutt’s not worrying either--at least not about the goaltending.

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Duck Notes

Left wing Stu Grimson was scratched after suffering a cut on his right hand during the morning skate. . . . Forward Steven King played after missing the last six games with a sprained left shoulder.