Two-Thirds Effort Too Little for Ducks

The first meaningless game of the season--the one after a team is eliminated from the playoff race--still has one small bit of intrigue. Will the players fold or keep playing?

The Mighty Ducks managed to do both Monday night, taking a one-goal lead into the third period against the St. Louis Blues before losing, 5-3.

They trailed by only 4-3 until Glenn Anderson’s empty-net goal with 19 seconds left, but Duck Coach Ron Wilson wasn’t inclined to forgive his team for allowing St. Louis to score four third-period goals--two in the first 3 1/2 minutes.

“Some people, their effort was disgusting,” he said. “We’ve got people who are playing for new contracts, and it doesn’t help their cause when they fold up in the the third. I’m not talking about young guys, I’m talking about people who are expected to lead by example.

“You’ve got to play every game like you care. They don’t stop the paychecks when you’re out of the playoffs.”

The Ducks’ loss to the Kings on Sunday turned them into also-rans, eliminating them with two games left.

There was plenty of skating in Monday’s game, and oddly only two penalty minutes--zero for the Ducks, two for the Blues. It was a back-and-forth game that was still tied approaching the midway point of the third period before Brendan Shanahan put St. Louis ahead at 9:22, 4-3, when he scored his 20th goal of the season and second of the game--both by deflecting shots. Shanahan also had an assist.

The Ducks held the lead twice, the second time when Paul Kariya put them up, 2-1, on a wraparound goal at 17:27 of the second.

But St. Louis scored twice in the first 3:18 of the third with the same line on for the Ducks both times--Patrik Carnback, Peter Douris and Joe Sacco.

“There’s no reason we should have lost the game,” Wilson said. “One line went completely to sleep.”

Todd Krygier tied the score, 3-3, when he beat Curtis Joseph on a breakaway at 4:20 of the third for his 11th goal of the season.

Wilson decided to use the game to get a couple of young players into the lineup. He played seven rookies, including right wing Valeri Karpov, who hadn’t played in the last 11 games. St. Louis Coach Mike Keenan did the same, playing five rookies.

Karpov, 23, was the Ducks’ second-leading scorer during the exhibition season but fell out of the lineup after the season started, suffering from defensive lapses and a lack of confidence. He gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead at 8:31 of the first by redirecting a pass that another rookie, Denny Lambert, put right on his stick with Karpov open in front of the net.

Duck Notes

Goalie Guy Hebert dressed as the backup the day after suffering a mild concussion when the Kings’ Eric Lacroix drove him into the crossbar during a 2-1 loss. San Diego Gulls goalie Allan Bester was available on an emergency basis after being recalled but did not dress. . . . Defenseman Jason Marshall--who played in the St. Louis organization until the Ducks traded defenseman Bill Houlder for him last summer--was also in the lineup, playing only the third NHL game of his career. . . . Houlder was a healthy scratch for the sixth time in 10 games.