Ducks Beat Sharks but May Lose Ewen

The Mighty Ducks won their game Sunday afternoon against the San Jose Sharks, 4-2, but they stand to lose enforcer Todd Ewen to an automatic three-game suspension for his part in a first-period brawl.

Perhaps more critically, though, they lost an opportunity to gain ground on Winnipeg in the chase for the final Western Conference playoff spot because the Jets beat Calgary, 4-1, to stay four points ahead.

The Ducks flew home Sunday night with a 3-2-1 record on a two-week trip on which they aimed to go .500, finishing a hair better than that with seven of a possible 12 points. They finish the season with five of their last seven games at home.

“This is going to be fun. This is what you want,” Coach Ron Wilson said, still waiting to hear the result of Winnipeg’s game. “It flip-flops back and forth. Things change so fast.”

San Jose has long been out of the playoff picture, but the Sharks have seemed bent on making a point against the Ducks with physical play the last two times they have met.

This time, the result was a full-on, six-on-six brawl with 3:01 left in the first period that resulted in 54 minutes in penalties, the ejection of Ewen and San Jose’s Jeff Odgers, and a trip to the hospital for linesman Mike Cvik, who was severely cut on the back of his right hand during the fracas and was taken to San Jose Medical Center. A hospital spokesman said Cvik was fine and would be treated and released. A San Jose team spokesman said Cvik suffered cuts to two tendons.

Ewen emerged with the usual bumps and bruises, but barring an unlikely reversal, he will receive an automatic three-game suspension without pay after receiving his fifth game-misconduct penalty of the season. It will bring his season total to six games lost to suspensions.

The melee started with an altercation between the Ducks’ Ken Baumgartner and the Sharks’ Dave Brown, who had gone toe-to-toe with Ewen three minutes into the game.

Baumgartner and Brown were tussling in front of the Anaheim bench when Baumgartner tried to lift Brown up and over the boards. Brown was able to resist but dumped Baumgartner over the boards onto his own bench.

It spread from there, with Odgers going after Baumgartner at mid-ice as he headed for the penalty box, and Ewen jumping Odgers, with Ewen and Odgers drawing game misconducts for joining in after a fight had begun.

“I have no regrets whatsoever,” Ewen said. “I was helping my teammate. Baumer was trying to go to the penalty box and Odgers came around and jumped him. The guy’s already tired from fighting. I had to stand up for my teammate.”

Said Wilson: “I would rather he just grabbed the guy. On the other hand, I’m not the guy who goes out and faces physical destruction. Generally, it’s best to hit first and ask questions later. I can’t fault Ewie for that.”

The Ducks took a 1-0 lead shortly before the fisticuffs erupted when Joe Sacco was credited with a power-play goal after throwing the puck in front of the net for Steve Rucchin, where it bounced around and slipped into the net behind Arturs Irbe.

Teemu Selanne scored the Ducks’ second goal 5:16 into the second period--his 37th of the season but first of the six-game trip. Paul Kariya scored his 43rd of the season on a power play at 7:40.

San Jose’s Ray Whitney ended Hebert’s shutout bid 2:36 into the third period, but Valeri Karpov increased the Ducks’ lead to 4-1 before Shark rookie Jan Caloun scored. It was his fifth NHL goal in six NHL shots.