Blues Bring Down Ducks in Overtime, 3-2 : Hockey: Hull scores once and sets up two other goals for St. Louis. Duchesne returns.

Coming off the All-Star break, most of the players on the Mighty Ducks and St. Louis Blues were fresh Monday night, when the Blues took a 3-2 overtime victory before a sellout crowd of 17,174 at Anaheim Arena.

Brett Hull, who played in the All-Star game at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, wasn’t so fresh, but it didn’t matter. He scored the Blues’ first goal, then set up the tying goal and Kevin Miller’s winner at 1:10 of the five-minute extra period.

There were a lot of rested players on the ice, but none was more rested than St. Louis defenseman Steve Duchesne.

He hadn’t played since April 28, a break of nearly nine months.

Until Monday morning, Duchesne hadn’t even skated since last week’s earthquake, because the Iceoplex, the North Hills rink he co-owns with the Kings’ Luc Robitaille, was damaged in the quake.

Duchesne, a former King and an Encino resident, had refused to report to the Quebec Nordiques all season after a salary dispute and bitter arbitration hearing and was traded to the Blues in a five-player deal Sunday. He hadn’t played since April 28, when the Nordiques lost to Montreal in six games in a first-round playoff series.

Before the trade, Duchesne was rumored to be headed several places, even on the final day of talks; and Duck General Manager Jack Ferreira said he had talked with Quebec General Manager Pierre Page about a deal but didn’t believe he was close to acquiring Duchesne.

No one expected Duchesne to play Monday night, but the Blues were a bit shorthanded and Duchesne was eager. But the transition wasn’t easy.

“I felt so slow,” Duchesne said. “I wanted to take a shot, and all of a sudden there’d be a stick there.”

Duchesne, 28, who had 82 points last season for the Nordiques, started the game and played on both the power play and penalty-killing units, trying five shots.

Still, it is apparently going to take a while for the Blues to adjust to losing defenseman Garth Butcher and forwards Ron Sutter and Bob Bassen in the trade.

“They traded the heart and soul of the team out,” Hull said. “We just lost three really close friends. Steve coming in played really great for us. He’s so talented offensively and he moves the puck well. For a guy who hasn’t played (this season), he played great.”

Said Duchesne: “It feels a little awkward, coming in the locker room. I know those guys were liked by everybody. Sure, it will take a few games, a few weeks, to adjust and be accepted. I understand that.”

The Blues managed to win despite the wandering ways of their all-star goalie, Curtis Joseph. Both Duck goals--by Troy Loney and Tim Sweeney--were scored after he wandered far out of the crease.

The Ducks led, 2-1, after two periods, but Joseph kept it tight, and beat his former backup, the Ducks’ Guy Hebert, for the first time in three tries this season.

The Blues made the score 2-2 at 1:54 of the third period when Hull carried the puck in on a two-on-two rush, then sent it across the slot to center Jim Montgomery, who had beaten defenseman Don McSween down the ice.

Duchesne was happy to have his debut victorious--and behind him.

“I’ve never ridden my bike so much in my life,” he said of his layoff. “I know I wouldn’t be able to retire right now. It was just eating me away. Every time I watched a game on TV, the Kings or something, I was going nuts. I wanted to be there.”

Duck Notes

Goaltender Ron Tugnutt’s wife, Lisa, gave birth Sunday to the couple’s first child, Jacob Ronald Alfred.