Goaltender Can’t Save Ducks From Frustrating 3-2 Defeat

Sandy McCarthy’s overtime shot from the left faceoff circle seemed harmless enough, more of a turn and a blind flip toward the net. Nothing special, a routine save for Mighty Duck goaltender Mikhail Shtalenkov.

But Shtalenkov never saw the puck coming. Teammate Sean Pronger screened him and the puck nestled cleanly, if not spectacularly, in the back of the net 1:36 into overtime to give the Calgary Flames a 3-2 victory Saturday over the Ducks.

It provided a frustrating capper to a game in which the Ducks seemed to have command as the third period began. But the Ducks squandered a hard-earned two-goal lead and lost a chance to move above .500 for the first time since Nov. 14.

The crowd of 18,344 at the Canadian Airlines Saddledome included Andy Murray of the Canadian national team, who will get a chance to coach unsigned restricted free agent Paul Kariya before Pierre Page will.

Kariya and the Ducks seemed to be like ships passing in the night. After playing Saturday in Calgary, the Ducks flew to Toronto for Tuesday’s game against the Maple Leafs.

Kariya will travel from his parents’ home in Vancouver, where he has been staying during his contract negotiations with the Ducks, to Calgary to begin workouts with the Canadian national team Monday.

“He’ll be in our regular training program: two hours on the ice in the morning and in our off-ice [weight training] program,” Murray said of Kariya, one of 23 NHL players selected Saturday to play for the Canadian Olympic team. “I’ve talked to him and he’s very enthused to play with us. Obviously, he’d like to be playing here tonight.”

No question the Ducks would have loved to have had Kariya in the lineup against the Flames. But after 28 games without him this season they’ve managed to adapt.

Of course, it always seems to help ease Page’s pain to have Teemu Selanne skating with the puck ahead of a pack of defenders.

“He’s been good every night,” Page said before the game. “With all the adversity we’ve faced [because of Kariya’s absence], he’s just been unbelievable for us.”

There was Selanne again in the first period, in the clear after an excellent pass from Tomas Sandstrom freed him from Calgary defenseman Jamie Allison at the blue line.

In a flash, the puck was in the back of the net and the Ducks had a 1-0 lead at 13:48 of the first period.

Selanne’s second goal, his league-leading 23rd of the season, came with similar swiftness and flair.

One moment, Calgary defenseman Zarley Zalapski had the puck in his own end of the ice. And the next instant, he put a clearing pass on Selanne’s stick.

Selanne bamboozled Zalapski with a quick move to the left, then a swing to the right. In an instant, he was alone in front of goalie Rick Tabaracci. A move to the backhand, a flip and a goal.

Instead of a 1-0 lead after two periods, Selanne gave the Ducks a more comfortable, 2-0, lead going into the game’s final 20 minutes.

Good thing, too, because the rest of the Ducks created little offense. The Ducks managed only 12 shots on goal in the first two periods.

But they helped themselves by handling the game’s more mundane tasks with the same dedication Selanne paid to his offensive moves.

And for the second night in a row it helped the Ducks to have the opposition flubbing its best scoring chances and playing poor defense. Like Edmonton, which fell to the Ducks, 3-1, Friday, Calgary seemed bent on self-destruction in the first two periods.

The Flames’ lost track of Selanne more than the two times he scored goals. They misfired on the power play and were out of sync on their few scoring opportunities.

But they awoke in fine fashion in the third period.

Michael Nylander scored Calgary’s first goal with a quick shot after winning a faceoff in the left circle at 5:30.

Theoren Fleury tied the score, 2-2, with another shot from the left faceoff circle to become the leading goal-scorer in franchise history with 315 in his career.