Lightning Doesn’t Strike Twice for Ducks : Hockey: Anaheim’s Grimson ends long streak without a goal, but playoff hopes fading with 4-3 loss at Dallas.

Once or twice a year, the elements all come together for a perfect moment. The planets align, and something special happens on the ice.

Once or twice a year, Stu Grimson scores a goal.

Grimson, the Mighty Duck enforcer who is a brute on the ice but an eloquent spokesman for his team and his faith off it, broke the longest streak without a goal in the NHL this season when he scored his first goal at 19:16 of the second period of a 4-3 loss Tuesday to Dallas at Reunion Arena.

But Grimson and his teammates saw their pursuit of San Jose for the final Western Conference playoff spot get harder as they fell six points back with 11 games to play after San Jose tied Pittsburgh.

“It was all for naught,” Grimson said. “It doesn’t really feel that thrilling when it doesn’t count for much. It’s a lot better when you can assist on a winning cause. It takes the edge off it. I really thought it might have been the lift we needed, but it turned out it wasn’t.”

The goal--only the fourth of Grimson’s 242-game career--set off a jubilant celebration by the Mighty Duck bench as Grimson skated down the line high-fiving his delighted teammates.

“It was a beaut,” Coach Ron Wilson said after Patrik Carnback put a pretty pass on Grimson’s stick on the right side of the net, and the 6-foot-5 Grimson handled it deftly at his feet and beat goalie Darcy Wakaluk.

Grimson hadn’t scored a goal since Dec. 31, 1992, a stretch of 106 games. That is not the longest streak in the NHL--Philadelphia’s Rob Zettler, for one, hasn’t scored in at least 125 after not scoring all last season.

But Grimson’s streak this season was distinguished by how many games he has played without scoring a goal, showing the team appreciates his work as a tough guy enough to put him out there consistently. The goal came in his 71st game. Only eight players who have appeared in at least 50 games--excluding goalies--haven’t scored and only two who have played at least 65--Dallas’ Doug Zmolek (70) and Ottawa’s Gord Dineen (68).

Dallas took a 3-1 lead with the help of Mike Modano’s 43rd and 44th goals, but Grimson’s goal cut it to one just before the end of the second period. The spark he hoped for didn’t come. Derian Hatcher made it 4-2 at 2:23 of the third, and the Ducks’ third-period comeback was stopped short.

They got a power play with 2:12 remaining when Hatcher was called for holding, but they didn’t capitalize until it was too late. With the Ducks’ holding an extra advantage with an extra attacker in the final 1:18, Carnback scored off a rebound with 7.9 seconds left.

“I didn’t know how much time was left, but when I saw seven seconds, I understood it was over,” Carnback said.

The Ducks’ goaltending situation, seemingly resolved when Ron Tugnutt was traded to Montreal last month, is back to a No. 1 and 1-A combination. Guy Hebert’s brief hold on No. 1 is over.

Tugnutt’s replacement, Mikhail Shtalenkov, has been sharp since arriving and has started the past three games. Wilson says he’s essentially back to alternating, with Hebert set for the next game, though a standout performance can earn a goalie another start.

“Guy’s worked hard in practice lately and I think he’s gained some respect for Mikhail that might have been lacking,” Wilson said. “Mikhail played well again. There’s nothing wrong with having two good goalies.”

Duck Notes

Left wing Troy Loney will join the team in Boston today after remaining in Anaheim with his wife, Aafke, for the birth of their son, Clint Teagan, on Monday.