Corkum Gets In His Shots

He was an original Duck who yearned for the day he would see the first Stanley Cup playoff games at the Pond.

But Bob Corkum was in a Phoenix Coyote uniform when the time finally came, and he has dealt the Ducks two crushing blows to put them on the brink of elimination after a 5-2 loss to Phoenix Thursday in Game 5.

Corkum’s third-period goal and two assists in front of 17,174 at the Pond helped give the Coyotes a three games to two lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinal series.

Only two days earlier, he scored the back-breaking goal in Phoenix’s controversial 2-0 victory in Game 4.

“It’s got to be at least as big as the last game,” Corkum said. “I’m just glad I got the goal to put it away.”

The loss was the Ducks’ first at the Pond since Feb. 2, a span of 16 games, and now they must return to Phoenix for Game 6 Sunday needing to win to force a decisive Game 7 Tuesday in Anaheim.

“We’ve risen to the occasion before,” Duck center Steve Rucchin said. “Especially late in the season when we won those games at Chicago and Detroit. We’re still playing good hockey, but we’ve got to go out and play three solid periods on Sunday.”

The Ducks made too many defensive errors and Coach Ron Wilson called them “god-awful” in their own end, saying the Ducks “waved the white flag” too early as well.

He also criticized the top line of Paul Kariya, Teemu Selanne and Rucchin for being “frustrated” by Phoenix’s defensive attention.

“We have to go back and regroup now and respond,” Kariya said. “Like has happened a lot this season, we had some mental lapses in the second.”

The game seemed almost out of hand with Phoenix leading by two goals in the third, but Selanne scored his second goal of the game on a power play 6:52 into the final period to cut the lead to 3-2.

The Ducks were threatening to tie until Jeremy Roenick stole a bad clearing pass by Duck defenseman Dan Trebil and passed to Corkum in the slot.

Corkum backhanded it into the net for a 4-2 lead, and the final margin was decided by Keith Tkachuk’s empty-net goal with 21 seconds left, his second goal of the game and fifth of the series.

“Sometimes you get the breaks. I got the breaks tonight,” Corkum said. “I don’t know where that [backhand] came from. Maybe in the driveway, playing with my son.”

Corkum, traded to Philadelphia for minor leaguer Chris Herperger and seventh-round draft pick last season, was picked up in the waiver draft by Phoenix early this season. He led the Ducks with 23 goals during their first season. By last year, his role had changed. He was no longer a scorer, and he fell out of the lineup for not contributing enough defensively.

He has showed the Ducks some defense this series, centering the line with Darrin Shannon and Roenick that has held Selanne and Kariya in check much of the series.

Wilson warned before the game that Roenick and Tkachuk “better lace their skates a little tighter.” It was mostly an idle threat--”Just gamesmanship, that’s all,” Wilson said later--but it might have backfired.

“It was a challenge and Roenick and Tkachuk responded,” Phoenix Coach Don Hay said. “Any time you challenge the best players, they are bound to respond to what you say.”

Tkachuk scored the game’s first goal, beating goalie Guy Hebert easily on a breakaway 14:46 into the first period after Duck defenseman J.J. Daigneault skated deep into his offensive zone and tried a pass that was intercepted by Dallas Drake.

Roenick broke a 1-1 tie in the second period, but his biggest contribution in the series has been his defense against Kariya.

“Jeremy has done an excellent job of neutralizing Paul in even-strength situations,” Wilson said.

Said Kariya: “He’s always there.”

The Coyote defense--with no small contribution from goalie Nikolai Khabibulin--smothered the Ducks’ offense in Phoenix, giving up only one goal in two games. When Selanne put a rebound into a nearly open net at 17:37 of the first, it ended a scoreless stretch of 118:48 for the Ducks.

Hebert wasn’t at his sharpest. When defenseman Teppo Numminen scored to give Phoenix a 3-1 lead 9:12 into the second, Hebert had faced 12 shots and given up three goals. Numminen--who had only two goals all season but has three in the playoffs--was wide open in front of the net after most of the Ducks on the ice chased the puck into the corner.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Mighty Ducks vs. Phoenix

* Game 1: Mighty Ducks, 4-2

* Game 2: Mighty Ducks, 4-2

* Game 3: Coyotes, 4-1

* Game 4: Coyotes, 2-0

* Game 5: Coyotes, 5-2

* Sunday: at Phoenix, noon

* Tuesday: Pond, 7:30 p.m.*

* if necessary