Ducks Rally to Tie

The Mighty Ducks were done for. Kaput.

Down by four goals midway through the third period Thursday night against the Colorado Avalanche, the Ducks were getting smoked. They were only trying to salvage some pride for the next game.

Instead, they salvaged a point, pulling out a 6-6 tie with a four-goal flurry that was capped off when Teemu Selanne scored the tying goal with 42 seconds left in regulation.

“At the end of the second period, Ron Wilson said, ‘Some nights are like this,’ ” said Selanne, who carried the Ducks with two goals and three assists, recording the fourth five-point game of his career. “He said, ‘Let’s try to win the third period. How you play the last period is sometimes how you start the next game.’

“It would have been amazing if some guy said, ‘Let’s try to win this thing.’ Nobody did.”

But the Ducks nearly did win it. In the five-minute overtime, they outshot the defending Stanley Cup champions, 5-1, even with both teams getting rare overtime power-play opportunities.

Steve Rucchin had a chance in close to win it, but Patrick Roy made the save. Warren Rychel, a member of the Avalanche last season, had a chance too. After contributing the goal that trimmed the lead to one with 1:01 to play, what if he had won it in overtime?

“We came up big in the third period and showed a lot of courage and grit,” Rychel said. “It’s a tribute to every guy in that room.”

Roy, the Avalanche goalie, was enraged at linesman Baron Parker and the Ducks early in the game after Ted Drury was credited with a goal even though he had sprawled nearly on top of Roy in the crease. By game’s end, Roy was mad at himself.

“I gave up two soft goals in the third period and that was the difference tonight,” Roy said. “I know why I gave up those two goals. Because I wasn’t working hard and I was playing soft. It’s a good lesson for me. I’m very mad at myself right now and I blame myself.”

Colorado ran roughshod over the Ducks most of the game, taking advantage of an undisciplined, inexperienced, ill-tempered crew of Anaheim players who also happened to be exhausted, playing across the street from Mile High Stadium the night after a tough 2-0 victory in Chicago.

“People talk about the air here,” Duck defenseman Bobby Dollas said. “We played the night before, a real physical hockey game. Then we had those five-on-threes. A lot of us couldn’t join the rush. It was like somebody got a hold of my lungs.”

The five-on-threes came late in the first period, one after Garry Valk was called for a slash with the Avalanche already on a power play. Mike Ricci quickly scored for a 2-1 lead. Defenseman Fredrik Olausson gave the Avalanche another two-man advantage soon after when he was penalized for boarding with Valk still in the box.

“Toward the end of the first we had a lot of dumb penalties,” Wilson said, looking at a stretch where Ruslan Salei and David Karpa also were sent to the box. “That robs your momentum and kills the guys who have to stay out there.”

Peter Forsberg’s second goal of the game gave the Avalanche a 6-2 lead after two periods, and Wilson had a speaking engagement.

“I didn’t yell, I didn’t scream,” he said. “We just talked about some things that started happening. Guys weren’t supporting each other. We have some young guys on the team and some of the veterans were turning their backs on them. There’s no way we can be successful that way no matter who’s out or what excuses you have. You can’t say, ‘I can’t play with these young guys.’

Dollas, who has been asked to help carry Salei, a rookie, agreed.

“There was a lot of bickering going on. Everybody makes mistakes,” he said.

Kevin Todd started the comeback at 10:44 of the final period, cutting the lead to 6-3 off a pass from Roman Oksiuta on an odd-man rush. Selanne scored on a breakaway to make it 6-4 with less than three minutes left. Then Rychel at 18:59, Selanne again at 19:18.

“The Avalanche stopped playing. They thought the game was over,” Selanne said.

It was a bizarre showing for the Ducks, who are struggling to overcome the twin traumas of an injury to 50-goal scorer Paul Kariya and an overhauled defense.

Oddly, they have two 6-6 ties after only four games this season--a tribute to poor defense and to Selanne, who has four goals and 10 points in four games.

Where would the Ducks be without Selanne right now?

“That’s not a fun thought,” Wilson said.