Ducks Buried by the Avalanche

The Mighty Ducks are not nearly the equals of the Colorado Avalanche, owners of the best record in the NHL. But through two games and two periods this season, they played them even.

Then came the final period Sunday afternoon at the Pond. Colorado scored 21 seconds into the third, then added two more goals to turn a tie game into a 5-2 blowout in front of 17,174.

“They’re accustomed to winning, and that’s what they did tonight. They took it to us,” said Duck winger Warren Rychel, who played for Colorado’s Stanley Cup champions last season. “We knew they played [Saturday, a 2-1 upset loss in San Jose] and thought we’d have an advantage in the third period. That wasn’t the case.”

Twice this season, the Ducks have pulled out ties in the final minute against the Avalanche, tying them, 6-6, in Denver on Oct. 10 and, 1-1, in Anaheim on Nov. 3. But their 2-2 tie after two periods Sunday went up in smoke.

“It was never mentioned on the bench, but I’m sure the guys were aware of it,” Colorado Coach Marc Crawford said. “The last two times we played those guys, they came back on us. But our guys really decided to bear down tonight.”

In the first minute of the final period, Stephane Yelle cut to the front of the net behind defenseman Dmitri Mironov and easily redirected Mike Ricci’s pass into the net past goalie Guy Hebert.

“They came out and we misplayed a simple two-on-two,” Duck Coach Wilson said. “They got the lead and sat back and Patrick Roy made the saves. We had to open things up and we simply got beat.”

The Duck defense, so awful at the beginning of the season, is still error-prone, and Hebert’s extended hot streak has covered up for a lot of mistakes. The five goals he gave up marked only the fourth time in his club-record 19 consecutive starts he has allowed more than three goals.

“We didn’t play well defensively at all tonight,” left wing Paul Kariya said.

The early third-period goal wasn’t the only one of its kind. The Ducks allowed goals in the first two minutes of all three periods. Claude Lemieux scored 1:31 into the first, and Ricci scored on a power play 1:25 into the second when his shot deflected off J.F. Jomphe’s skate into the net, tying the score, 2-2.

Colorado scored its fourth goal 3:24 into the third after Rene Corbet spilled Ken Baumgartner--Wilson wanted a penalty--then carried the puck to the net, where Adam Deadmarsh was waiting on the doorstep to knock in the rebound for his 22nd goal of the season.

Keith Jones scored Colorado’s final goal, his 19th, at the 9:58 mark on a three-on-one rush after Peter Forsberg pushed his way past Duck defenseman Darren Van Impe at the other end. Jones also had two assists.

Van Impe scored the Ducks’ first goal, his second of the season, at 11:23 of the first, tying the score, 1-1. Kariya--who was in some discomfort because he has has been on antibiotics and has difficulty swallowing pills--gave the Ducks a 2-1 lead with 1:03 left in the first. It was his 22nd goal of the season and his 10th in the last 10 games.

Crawford has been concerned about his team’s play against less-imposing opponents--especially after the San Jose loss.

“I thought we played really well the whole game, and really paid attention in the third period. That’s where you want your game to rise up,” Crawford said.

That’s where the Ducks fell down.

“Somehow, we weren’t really ready to play the third period,” said Teemu Selanne, held without a point for only the 12th time all season. He was one of many who were thwarted on the power play, which went 0 for 5 against Colorado’s penalty-killers, the top-ranked group in the NHL.

“You can’t play 40 or 50 minutes, or even 58 or 59. It’s not enough,” Selanne said. “We don’t have so much talent that we can take 20 minutes off like Pittsburgh or a team like that. To win, we have to work so hard.”