Hebert Takes Heat After Ducks Collapse : Hockey: Wilson upset because goaltender fails to make the big saves in 6-3 loss to Maple Leafs.

The Mighty Ducks were tied with Toronto with eight minutes left on Tuesday.

With less than two minutes left, they were down by a goal and still looking for an opportunity to pull goalie Guy Hebert for an extra attacker and try to force overtime.

But by the time the game ended, the score was 6-3 after the Ducks allowed two goals in the final 63 seconds in front of 15,673 at Maple Leaf Gardens.

The game turned when Mats Sundin made a spectacular play at 12:44 of the third, outskating Duck defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky on a shorthanded rush, then beating Hebert through the narrow opening on the short side of the net for a 4-3 lead.

The score was certainly worse than the loss, but there were more troublesome aspects for the Ducks than seeing their franchise record-tying four-game winning streak ended. Such as: How do they reverse a road record of 1-7? And how was it that Hebert, in brilliant form for more than a week, was suddenly rather ordinary?

Duck Coach Ron Wilson praised Maple Leaf goalie Felix Potvin to high heaven, which seemed a not-so-subtle criticism of Hebert.

“Felix Potvin won the game in the third period. He made great saves and we didn’t get huge saves. What are you going to do?” Wilson said.

Asked if he was surprised that Hebert allowed two goals in the first 10 minutes after allowing barely two a game in his last five starts, Wilson responded, “I was a little surprised by all the goals, to be honest.”

Hebert, who has rolled with Wilson’s criticism with mixed feelings, said if Wilson was trying to send him a message, “I think it’s detrimental. I don’t want to get into anything in the newspaper because we have a good relationship. I think he probably believes Potvin made one more big save than I did. That’s life. You take it from there.”

Mike Gartner beat Hebert high just 3:25 into the game. Gartner was assisted on the goal by defenseman Larry Murphy, 34, who entered the game needing one assist to pass Larry Robinson, now the Kings’ coach, and move into fourth on the all-time scoring list for defensemen.

Murphy, who started his NHL career with the Kings in 1980, responded with three assists, giving him 961 points. He trails Paul Coffey, Ray Bourque and Denis Potvin.

“It’s special, and I’m sure with time, when I’m done playing, it will mean quite a bit,” Murphy said. “But I’m not done yet.”

Toronto led, 2-0, after Todd Gill scored at 9:53 while Hebert was down in a split after contact with teammate Jason York. Hebert complained that York was pushed onto him but got no satisfaction.

“I was pretty irritated. Somebody pushed Jason York right on top of me and knocked me out of the play,” Hebert said.

The Ducks recovered, though, tying the score, 2-2, on goals by Mike Sillinger and Bob Corkum.

Doug Gilmour scored the first of his two goals by redirecting a perfect power-play pass from Murphy to give Toronto a 3-2 lead at 15:06 of the second. But the Ducks tied the score again when Joe Sacco put in the rebound after a flashy move in the slot by rookie center Chad Kilger.

“It’s a 3-3 game, I was thinking about how we were going to win it in overtime,” Hebert said. “For it end up to end up like it did, you’re shaking your head.”

With one victory in eight road games, there are 20-odd players shaking their heads.

“We’ve got to prepare ourselves mentally a lot better,” said left wing Garry Valk. “I don’t think we played very well the first 10 minutes. I don’t know if it has anything to do with the eight-hour travel day or not, but . . . we’ve got to find a way to come out and play.”

Duck Notes

Coach Ron Wilson criticized what he considered inconsistent officiating by referee Richard Trottier, saying, “This is like, I don’t know, Yahtzee. They’re rolling the dice, it could go either way.” . . . It was at Maple Leaf Gardens last season that Wilson complained he got no respect from referee Mick McGeough: “Pat Burns yells at them and it’s, ‘Yes sir, Mr. Burns,’ ” Wilson said. “I yell and it’s shut up, you punk.’ ” . . . Left wing Todd Krygier missed a second game with a bruised left thigh, and he wasn’t pleased after hearing that the Rangers’ Ulf Samuelsson won’t get an NHL suspension for kneeing him to cause injury, as the Ducks contended. “If I was a big-name player, it would be a different story,” Krygier said. . . . Right wing Todd Ewen, whose left hand is still sore from earlier injuries, left the game and didn’t return because of pain in the hand after a fight with Ken Baumgartner in the second period. . . . The Ducks’ practices are open to the public. Admission is free. For practice schedule and times call: (714) 535-7465.