Hextall’s Play Caps Strange Happenings

Philadelphia’s Ron Hextall has scored a goal, the first by a goaltender in NHL history. Wednesday night, he added an assist.

Wait, don’t go scanning the small type at the back of the sports section. Hextall didn’t officially get credit for an assist, and certainly not for the Flyers. But his wayward clearing pass did lead directly to the Mighty Ducks’ third goal.

Strange things happened on another weird opening night Wednesday at the Pond.

First off, there was the pregame show that featured grown-up actors dressed as Flyers, Flames, Blackhawks and Kings (the bad guys) rounding up and tormenting a bunch of kids dressed as Ducks (the good guys).

At last, Wild Wing dropped from the rafters to save the day in a surreal episode that drew a round of boos when it ended.

So, when Hextall tried to make a routine clearing pass after a harmless shot from Jari Kurri early in the second period, no one batted an eye. Now here was something the sellout crowd of 17,174 had seen many times.

But when Hextall’s stick broke, the puck fluttered to Duck winger Teemu Selanne. Selanne moved into the slot and ripped a slap shot past Hextall for a goal and a 3-1 Duck lead.

The short-handed Ducks needed more luck like that to subdue the short-handed Flyers, who were playing without the injured Eric Lindros and Joel Otto and the suspended Daniel Lacroix.

Selanne’s goal gave the Ducks a 3-1 lead, but it didn’t hold up. The Flyers, who played Saturday at the New York Islanders, Sunday at Philadelphia, Tuesday at the Kings and Wednesday at the Ducks, rallied for a 4-3 victory.

“It’s a big disappointment for us to be up, 3-1, then, 3-2, in the third period and let it slip away,” Duck defenseman David Karpa said.

Of course, things could be worse.

At least the Ducks now have players who know what to do with a loose puck. That wasn’t always the case in the past.

Players like Selanne and Kurri seem to make their own breaks. It helps to be good, to be sure, but it helps to be hanging around in the right places, too.

Selanne’s goal was his team-leading fifth. Kurri received credit for his fourth assist and seventh point, a gift since it was actually Hextall who fed the puck to Selanne.

“Yeah, it had to end up on his stick,” Hextall said at game’s end. “I’m sure we were saying, ‘Here we go again.’ ”

Said Flyer Coach Terry Murray: “Those are the things that have been happening to us. We’ve certainly seen enough of it. We’ve got to get through it, there’s just no way around it.”

The Flyers, a preseason pick to reach the Stanley Cup finals by some, started Wednesday’s game 2-4 after a 3-2 loss to the Kings, and hadn’t expected to be heading anywhere.

The Ducks, meanwhile, haven’t exactly been living up to expectations after a 1-2-2 trip to open the season.

Wednesday’s loss, particularly their third-period letdown, made it official: they’re off to another lackluster start.

Last season, it was 2-8 to start. This season, it’s 1-3-2.