They're Not Dead Ducks

By ROBYN NORWOOD

April 28, 1997 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

PHOENIX —

The Mighty Ducks rose from the ashes in Phoenix on Sunday.

An instant from elimination in overtime, they were on their way home for a seventh game the next after Paul Kariya ripped a bouncing puck into the corner of the net to beat the Coyotes, 3-2, after nearly 7 1/2 minutes of sudden-death at America West Arena.

“That shot by Paul was just unbelievable,” said Teemu Selanne, who flipped the puck high into the air as the Ducks’ cleared their zone, with Kariya already streaking down the left wing toward the Phoenix goal.

It was the sort of thing Selanne and Kariya often try--anything to take advantage of their speed and chemistry--but rarely does it work so well.

The puck bounced. Phoenix defenseman Gerald Diduck couldn’t knock it away, and Kariya got it on his stick and unleashed a tough-angle shot that beat goalie Nikolai Khabibulin to the upper right corner.

“The puck was on end, and I just tried to get a shot off,” Kariya said.

And Selanne’s pass?

“It was perfect.”

Kariya’s goal came at 7:29 of overtime, tying the best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinal series with the final game Tuesday at the Pond.

Phoenix might be without winger Jeremy Roenick, who injured his left knee when the Ducks’ Ted Drury barreled into him midway through the second period.

“It comes down to one game. This is what I live for,” said Phoenix winger Keith Tkachuk, whose power-play goal with 2:16 left in the third period brought his team back from a 2-0 deficit to force overtime.

“It’s going to be exciting,” Selanne said. “But for sure this game is not going to help Tuesday. It gives us more confidence though. It’s a great challenge.”

The status of Roenick--an offensive star who has done yeoman work defending Kariya in this series--was to be determined today.

Coyote Coach Don Hay, angered by Duck Coach Ron Wilson’s threat to go after Tkachuk and Roenick physically earlier in the series, said, “You don’t like to see those hits. You think it’s a bit of a cheap shot.”

But Roenick said, “I just got my leg caught in the wrong place trying to get the puck back.”

Drury called it an accident.

“I definitely did not try to injure him,” Drury said. “He lost the puck. I thought I had a chance to get it, but we both arrived at the same time and our legs just collided.”

Doing it in overtime is supposed to be the hard way to win, but maybe not for the Ducks. They were 3-0-11 in overtime this season and are 8-0-15 in overtime on the road in their four-year history.

But they had never played an overtime playoff game, where the periods are 20 minutes, not five, and there is no possibility of a tie.

“One puck in and I’d be hanging up the skates and so would everybody else,” said Duck goalie Guy Hebert, who made 19 saves. “It was the fear of one goal against, and it was all done.”

Had the Ducks lost in overtime, Wilson might have been complaining about the no-goal decision on a shot by Selanne in the final minute of the second period in which the puck at least partially crossed the goal line.

The game continued, but referee Don Koharski had the video goal judge review the play at the end of the period and did not award a goal. Replays available to reporters were inconclusive. The puck has to completely cross the line for it to be a goal.

The Ducks outplayed Phoenix most of the game, but easily could have lost.

“I thought we deserved to win the game in regulation,” Wilson said. “In the end, justice prevailed.”

In the end, Kariya prevailed. He led the NHL in game-winning goals this season with 10, even though he missed 13 games because of injuries. Last season, he scored four overtime goals.

The winning goal was his fifth of the series and second of the game. He also scored on his own power-play rebound, breaking a scoreless tie 6:12 into the second period.

The Ducks led, 2-0, after Brian Bellows jumped on the rebound of a Dmitri Mironov wraparound attempt and lifted it into the top of the net with 59 seconds left in the second.

What ought to have been a safe lead going into the third wasn’t, and the Duck defense that had been smothering turned faltering. The Coyotes’ Darrin Shannon scored his third goal of the series when he was allowed to cut to the front of the net alone on a give-and-go and skated around an outstretched Hebert to score.

Tkachuk’s chance came after David Karpa took a holding penalty at 16:11 of the third because Tkachuk had a chance for a breakaway.

Wilson said Karpa took the penalty because he was out of position. Almost every Duck on the ice was out of position when Tkachuk scored, left all alone in front of the net while Craig Janney had the puck in the corner. Selanne was behind the net, and Jari Kurri was nowhere close.

“A really bad mistake by me,” Selanne said.

He made no mistake on the winning goal.

“Those guys are the second- and third-leading scorers in the NHL,” center Steve Rucchin said. “When we have Paul and Teemu on the ice in a crucial situation, that doesn’t hurt.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

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

* Game 6: Mighty Ducks, 3-2

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

WHAT DOES IT TAKE? The Coyotes had done everything right, but it wasn’t enough. C11

OTHER GAMES, C11