Buffalo Allows Ducks No Time for Nostalgia

On a night that marked a homecoming for a handful of Mighty Ducks and a debut for center Stephan Lebeau, some of the Ducks left Memorial Auditorium with an extra tinge of disappointment Wednesday night after a 4-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres.

Coach Ron Wilson grew up skating at the “Aud,” as the old arena is known, jumping on the ice after his father’s minor league teammates had finished practicing. Bob Corkum, the Ducks’ leading scorer, used to play for the Sabres, as did defensemen Bill Houlder, Don McSween and Mark Ferner.

“It was a game I wanted to win. It would have been nice,” said McSween, who made several goal-saving defensive plays on a night when the defense made some crucial errors. He also was credited with the Ducks’ second goal when his shot went in off the skate of Sabre defenseman Doug Bodger with the Ducks trailing, 4-1, in the third period.

Lebeau, playing his first game for Anaheim since being traded to Montreal goalie Ron Tugnutt, wasn’t on the ice for either Duck goal. But he showed signs that he is going to create scoring opportunities--and be in the right place defensively as well.

“Definitely, he’s got good hands and good wheels,” said Corkum, who played with Lebeau on the power play. “He created some chances around the net.”

Coach Ron Wilson was satisfied with Lebeau’s game, but has cautioned that one player can’t cure all the Ducks’ offensive shortcomings, and that it will take a bit of time for Lebeau to mesh with the team.

“It will take time for people to understand what he likes to do,” Wilson said. “He likes to roll out from behind the net, and nobody we have other than Shaun Van Allen does that.”

Lebeau created a pretty scoring chance just that way in the first period, but Tim Sweeney seemed unprepared to get the puck and didn’t manage a shot.

“It was an adjustment for me,” said Lebeau, who was playing only his third game since returning from a severely sprained right ankle. “I didn’t play a lot over the last six weeks. I felt better as the game went on. I’m confident my best is ahead.

“At the first practice I was nervous, today I was nervous. I think it’s the normal thing you have to go through.”

The Sabres played a hard-checking, physical game and capitalized on defensive coverage errors by the Ducks. Goalie Guy Hebert gave up four goals for the second consecutive game.

“They made a couple of nice plays on our defensive mistakes and that was the difference,” Wilson said. “Add into that that Guy didn’t make the big save that can get you out of it, not that the goals were his fault. He only let in one bad goal.”

Richard Smehlik had a dominating game for the Sabres, assisting on three goals. Randy Wood, Derek Plante, Dale Hawerchuk and Petr Svoboda scored.

Terry Yake beat Buffalo goalie Grant Fuhr on a power play at 8:14 of the second when he scored his 20th goal of the season off a rebound.

A month ago, Wilson might have pulled Hebert for Tugnutt--sometimes he has made a switch not out of lack of faith but simply to turn the momentum. Now Hebert is the man,through thick and thin, even though new backup Mikhail Shtalenkov will get an occasional start.

“Maybe it wouldn’t have been a bad idea to give Mikhail some game time in the third, but that doesn’t give Guy confidence,” Wilson said. “That’s why I wouldn’t pull him.”

All in all, it was a loss that disappointed but didn’t hurt.

“Tonight was the kind of game we play. It’s just that Buffalo’s better than us,” Wilson said. “It doesn’t look like their coaching staff allowed them to underestimate us, as some players have.”

Duck Notes

Further evaluation of the hairline fracture in defenseman Alexei Kasatonov’s right foot determined it will keep him from practicing for about three weeks. It is likely to take a week beyond that for him to resume playing. . . . Former King Lonnie Loach was the forward scratched to make room for newly acquired center Stephan Lebeau.