Rucinsky, Canadiens Survive Sticky Situation

Three goals and one crooked stick.

Some night for Martin Rucinsky of the Montreal Canadiens, huh?

Hero and, very nearly, a goat all in the same game on Wednesday night at the Pond.

Rucinsky scored the Canadiens’ fourth, fifth and sixth goals during their 6-5 victory over the Mighty Ducks.

But by getting caught with an illegal stick with 1 minute 20 seconds left in regulation, Rucinsky handed the Ducks one last chance to tie the score.

It didn’t happen, but that didn’t make Rucinsky feel any better about getting caught.

“I’m happy the guys killed it [the penalty] for me,” Rucinsky said. “I was getting old in the penalty box.”

Rucinsky said he “usually” doesn’t use an illegal stick, but grabbed one out of “the bag” right before the game. He said he didn’t check to see if there was too much curve on it.

Duck Coach Ron Wilson could have told him right away. Wilson noticed Rucinsky’s stick midway through the game.

Wilson was tempted to have referee Rob Shick measure the stick with the Ducks already on the power play to start the third period. But Rucinsky wasn’t on the ice to start the period and so Wilson waited.

And waited.

“A lot of guys use illegal sticks, but change in the last 10 minutes of the third period,” Wilson said.

If Wilson had pulled the trigger to start the period perhaps Rucinsky wouldn’t have scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal at the 5:43 mark.

Then again, Rucinsky might have been able to score with a broom handle. Duck defenseman David Karpa, attempting to move the puck through the neutral zone instead gave it away to Rucinsky.

Without a defenseman near, Rucinsky easily fired a shot past goaltender Guy Hebert and Montreal had a 6-4 lead.

Later, with the Ducks desperate to score the game-tying goal, Wilson asked for the measurement. Shick nabbed Rucinsky as the Canadien left wing attempted to sneak back to the bench.

Soon enough, Rucinsky’s stick was ruled illegal and he was in the penalty box.

“I thought he had an illegal stick, but it’s a left-handed stick and if you’re a right-hand shot all left sticks look illegal,” said Wilson, a right-hand shot. “I had a few of the guys skate by [Rucinsky] and give it a look during faceoffs. When I saw the tape was torn, I knew he hadn’t changed sticks in the third period.”

In the game’s final moments, the Ducks controlled the puck in the Canadiens’ zone and Hebert skated to the bench in favor of a sixth attacker--Roman Oksiuta, who scored the game-tying goal in a similar situation with 1.4 seconds remaining in a 1-1 tie against Colorado on Sunday.

This time, the Ducks couldn’t threaten rookie goalie Jose Theodore and the Canadiens held on to win.