Luck, Not Layoff, Works Against Tugnutt

Ron Tugnutt--remember him?--started in goal for the Mighty Ducks on Wednesday night at Anaheim Arena.

His world has changed considerably since his last start on Jan. 16 against the Vancouver Canucks.

On a personal note, his son, Jacob, was born. On the ice, Guy Hebert was solid in goal for five of his six starts. The Ducks went 2-2-2 and found themselves battling the Kings for a playoff spot. And now each game seems to mean so much more than only two weeks ago.

A loss to the Pacific Division-leading Calgary Flames would figure to come with the territory when Tugnutt made his last start. But no longer, and Tugnutt made that clear after Wednesday’s 4-2 loss.

The layoff didn’t hurt as much as all those missed opportunities and fortunate bounces for the Flames, he said.

Tugnutt made 30 saves, but all the postgame talk was about the one that got away.

Or perhaps more accurately, the one the Ducks gave away. Calgary’s Robert Reichel intercepted a bad clearing pass from Duck defenseman Bill Houlder, skated into the Duck zone and fired a shot that glanced off a defender’s stick, fluttered, dipped, hit the ice, then bounced into the back of the net.

That bad-hop goal gave Calgary a 3-2 lead and seemed to be the break the Flames needed to subdue the Ducks.

“It was going to my blocker side,” Tugnutt said. “When it went off the stick, it went in the opposite direction. Even then I thought I could stop it. It caught me off guard.”

The goal was the turning point. When the Ducks began pressing offensively late in the game, they gave up a 3-on-1 break and Reichel beat Tugnutt again.

The result was deeply disappointing to Tugnutt, who missed a two-game trip to Toronto and Detroit to be with his wife, Lisa, who was expecting the couple’s first child at any time.

Then, he sat and watched while Hebert went through a hot streak, losing only to St. Louis, 3-2, in overtime in the next three games.

Tugnutt finally got a chance to play when he relieved Hebert in a scoreless, 16-minute appearance of a 5-1 loss to the Kings Saturday at the Forum.

Sitting on the bench wasn’t to blame for Wednesday’s outcome, Tugnutt said.

“I felt fine,” he said. “It’s nice to get out there again. I was looking forward to it.”

Chomping at the bit is probably more like it. Until Hebert’s recent streak, neither goalie had come close to making six consecutive starts.

“If anything, going in against the Kings helped give me a chance to get a little ice time,” Tugnutt said. “I felt comfortable (tonight). I was confident. It was just bad luck on the third goal.”