Ducks Cannot Win for Tying

One goal rolled down goaltender Guy Hebert’s back and into the net.

Another came gift-wrapped.

Once again, the Mighty Ducks couldn’t seem to win in ancient, storied Maple Leaf Gardens.

But they didn’t lose this one.

After twice spotting Toronto two-goal leads, the Ducks rallied for a 3-3 tie Tuesday night in front of 15,620.

The Ducks’ winless streak at the NHL’s oldest arena now stands at nine games, dating to their one and only victory in Toronto on Dec. 15, 1993.

“It’s great to come to this old building with all the history,” Duck Coach Pierre Page said. “Maybe we’ll figure it out [how to win in Toronto] some day. When I read that we hadn’t won here in eight tries [before Tuesday], I thought maybe it would be our night.”

Guess again.

“It’s better than losing,” said defenseman Bobby Dollas, who returned to the lineup after suffering a slashed tendon in his left forearm during a 2-2 tie Oct. 28 against Toronto at Maple Leaf Gardens.

Toronto took advantage of a lucky bounce and a giveaway with the Ducks on a power play to take a 2-0 lead midway through the second period. The Ducks then cut the lead to 2-1 late in the second period on Tomas Sandstrom’s first goal in almost a month.

The Leafs built another two-goal lead on Jason Smith’s goal at 7:48 of the third period. But Joe Sacco and Ruslan Salei scored in the final 7:23 to rally the Ducks.

“We didn’t capitalize early and they capitalized on a . . . a . . . a blooper,” Page said, searching for the right word.

It was an accurate description of Toronto’s first goal, which was credited to Steve Sullivan.

Duck defenseman Jason Marshall swatted at a loose puck an instant before Sullivan, sending it fluttering over the Duck net. The puck struck an unsuspecting Hebert between the shoulder blades and it dropped into the net.

“That was a little disheartening,” Dollas said. “I tried to yell to Guy. I could see it coming. It hit right below the back of his mask and rolled down his back.”

The Maple Leafs’ second goal didn’t exactly send a jolt of enthusiasm running through the Duck bench either.

Toronto’s Igor Korolev intercepted a poor cross-ice pass in the neutral zone, zoomed in on a breakaway against Hebert and scored a short-handed goal at 13:54 of the second period.

Smith’s goal appeared to be a back breaker. But the Ducks didn’t fold, buzzing the Maple Leaf net in the final 10 minutes of regulation play.

First, Sacco deflected defenseman Dmitri Mironov’s shot from the left point between goalie Felix Potvin’s pads to cut the lead to 3-2 at 12:37. At 15:54, Salei blasted a slap shot from the left point through traffic and into the net to tie the score, 3-3.

It was Salei’s shot from the right point in the third period of the Oct. 28 game that glanced off Teemu Selanne’s visor and into the net for the game-tying goal.

So, perhaps the Ducks’ luck here isn’t so bad after all. Certainly, Page had no complaints about their effort in the wake of Saturday’s late-game fade in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Calgary Flames.

“We finally got some guys going to the net,” he said. “We got some deflections. We got some traffic in front of the net.

“In today’s game, if you don’t screen the goalie or deflect shots you aren’t going to score goals. The defense is better. The checking is better. The systems are better. The goalies are better.”

The Maple Leafs wisely hounded Selanne at every turn and he was held without a goal for the first time in three games.

But Selanne, who leads the NHL with 23 goals, also misfired on several quality scoring chances--including a breakaway in the game’s opening moments.

“Teemu played like he did at the beginning of the year,” Page said. “He didn’t think he was going to score all year at the start. Finally, we told him, ‘Just shoot the puck on net.’ ”

Said Selanne: “Our line tried to play with a lot of energy tonight. We had a lot of scoring chances. Their first goal was just lucky. The second goal was our mistake. Other than that I thought we played a pretty good game.”