Ducks Steal the Show : Hockey: Douris scores at 4:21 of overtime as Anaheim defeats Edmonton, 5-4.

At first, it seemed as if neither the labor dispute nor the nine months between home games had changed much at The Pond, where a 26th consecutive sellout crowd of 17,174 welcomed the Mighty Ducks back with the same cheery enthusiasm Monday night--and yet another anthem singer botched the words to “O Canada.”

The action on the ice, though, was different, as the Ducks won in overtime, 5-4, on Peter Douris’ goal with 39 seconds left in the extra period.

Edmonton goalie Bill Ranford made a crucial mistake when he came out too far to challenge Douris as he swept in after a diving Patrik Carnback made a centering pass. Ranford came out, and Douris went by him, sweeping the puck into the open net to start the delirium.

“I never had to sweat out a game like that one before,” Duck Coach Ron Wilson said. “That’s as tired as I’ve ever been after a game.”

Carnback played in Sweden during the lockout, and in the final minute, that might have been the difference.

“I didn’t think (Carnback) was going to get there, and then I saw Peter was starting to gain on the guy who was covering him,” Wilson said. “Patrik’s fresh legs for sure helped.”

The Ducks, trailing by a goal in the final two minutes after a back-and-forth third period, tied the score, 4-4, on a goal by Joe Sacco at 18:26 when Sacco brought the puck from behind the net and slipped it past Ranford.

Edmonton had taken the lead just 66 seconds earlier when a diving Kirk Maltby knocked the puck into the net after eluding defenseman Bobby Dollas at 17:40.

The Ducks, with a flashy new batch of rookies and veteran defenseman Tom Kurvers, are suddenly exciting to watch on offense. Kurvers scored two goals, rookie Paul Kariya had a goal and an assist and rookies Oleg Tverdovsky, Valeri Karpov and Steve Rucchin all recorded assists.

The Ducks had a 3-2 lead in the third period until Roman Oksiuta tied the score on a fluky goal at 9:14. Guy Hebert got his glove on Mike Stapleton’s shot from the left point, but the puck deflected off his glove and then hit the left post before settling in front of the net, where Oksiuta pushed it in behind goalie Guy Hebert.

The Oilers held Kariya pointless when the teams played in the season-opener Friday at Edmonton, and they were rough on him again Monday. But they got a little lesson from Kariya’s body guards after Luke Richardson knocked him down from behind early in the game, and paid for it shortly later.

Duck defenseman Robert Dirk, 6-4 and 210, took up for Kariya, 5-10 and 175, and got a game misconduct after cross-checking Richardson and instigating a fight at 17:28 of the second.

“Kariya’s a marked man already,” Wilson said. “Luke Richardson did his best to hurt him. He stuck his knee out. Robert Dirk did the right thing.”

Kurvers agreed.

“That showed some recognition that there needs to be some care taken,” he said. “But Paul’s a spunky kid.”

The Oilers, a dismal team in recent years, got off to a 2-0 start with victories over the Ducks and Kings, and Ranford was in goal for the third game in four nights Monday. He’s so durable--and so good--that he played 71 of 84 games last season, and until the first loss of the season, the Oilers were happy to keep sending him back out.

They took a 2-0 lead and the Ducks didn’t score until 7:49 of the second, when Kariya scored his second goal in three games this season. With the Ducks on a power play after Louie DeBrusk was sent off for high sticking, Kariya took a pass from Sacco at an unaccustomed spot near the right point. With defenseman Igor Kravchuk staying back looking for him to pass, Kariya took a rising slap shot that sailed between Ranford’s pads at 6:22.

Kariya got the assist on the goal that made it 2-2 when he found Kurvers in front of the net and made a half-blind pass to him from the left circle, sweeping the puck from his forehand across his body and behind him to Kurvers, who was credited with poking the puck past Ranford at 14:49.

Three minutes later, Kurvers scored again, this time on a slap shot from high in the slot, and the Ducks led, 3-2, at 17:48.

The Duck fans, so undemanding last season, actually were a little restless while when the home team fell behind early. Maybe this year they expect more.

“I think we expect more,” Kurvers said.

Duck Notes

Singer Dale Kristien of “Phantom of the Opera” botched a few lines to the Canadian national anthem. . . NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman was at the game and did TV and radio interviews, but the team didn’t push the friendly atmosphere by introducing him to the crowd.