Chalk It Up to Duck Luck

It took a week, but the Mighty Ducks finally got it right against the New York Islanders. Well, they defeated the Islanders, 4-2, anyway.

How and why it happened could be best summed up in the precise words of captain Teemu Selanne on Saturday at the Nassau Coliseum.

“We just got lucky,” he said.

Or as Scott Young put it, “Coming out of this game, I don’t think we’ll be overconfident in thinking we played a stellar game.

“We didn’t.”

The Ducks seized a three-goal lead, their first of that size this season, early in the second period. But instead of turning the game into a runaway, they played duck and cover.

The Islanders hammered away with one terrific scoring chance after another, finally drawing within 3-2 on Robert Reichel’s goal at 3:18 of the third period.

The hits kept coming, but the Islanders couldn’t put another of their 39 shots past Duck goaltender Mikhail Shtalenkov (3-0-1). Twice in the game’s final six minutes, the Islanders clanged game-tying scoring chances off the right goal post.

Finally, with 14 seconds left in regulation, Young sealed the victory with an empty-net goal with the Ducks short-handed. Then, and only then, could Coach Pierre Page relax.

“It felt like guerrilla warfare,” Page said. Asked if the Ducks had stolen a victory, he said, “That’s one way to put it, yeah.”

The Ducks’ victory brought them back to the .500 mark (4-4-2), but it was far from elegant hockey in the game’s second half. After a smooth start, the Ducks cracked and buckled, but did not break.

Tomas Sandstrom, Dmitri Mironov and Selanne scored to give the Ducks their three-goal lead. It was an advantage only on the scoreboard.

New York controlled play from the start, outshooting the Ducks, 17-5, in the first period. But the Ducks had three goals on six shots against New York goalie Tommy Salo, who had defeated the Ducks, 5-2, at the Pond last Sunday.

“We got a good start,” said Selanne, who had a goal in his third consecutive game after ending a five-game goal drought in Tuesday’s 4-3 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes. “[But] I don’t think we have so much talent that we can coast for half the game.”

True enough. The Ducks took foolish penalties, played disorganized defense and paid the price in the game’s final 30 minutes.

Bryan Berard scored the Islanders’ first goal, blasting a slap shot off the stick of a Duck defenseman and past Shtalenkov at the 11:01 mark of the second period.

Reichel, who had two goals last week at Anaheim, then scored on a breakaway to cut New York’s deficit to one goal.

“When they got that second goal, we really started running around in our own end,” Selanne said.

The Ducks began to lose almost every conceivable battle until Young’s clinching goal. They even lost two fights as the game threatened to spin out of control with less than seven minutes left in the third period.

Islander captain Bryan McCabe pummeled Duck defenseman David Karpa in the featured bout. McCabe apparently was coming to the aid of Mariusz Czerkawski, who had been leveled by Karpa’s clean check along the boards a moment earlier.

New York tough guy Rich Pilon then got the better of Duck winger Warren Rychel on the undercard.

The fights, and the rest they provided the noncombatants, seemed to be helpful to the Ducks for the stretch run.

After all, they would still need to weather shots off the post by Bryan Smolinski and Berard and a penalty to Mark Janssens for closing his hand on the puck after a scramble behind the Duck net with 54 seconds left.

“I didn’t feel so good at the end,” Shtalenkov said. “I didn’t feel fresh. It’s a team game [however]. We played hard and deserved the win.”

The Ducks probably played their best hockey in those final 54 seconds. First, Steve Rucchin won a key faceoff from New York’s Travis Green. Next, defenseman Jason Marshall tied up the puck on the boards.

When it squirted free, Rucchin cleared the puck the length of the ice. Young outraced an exhausted Berard and scored his second goal of the season.

“I could barely breathe when I shot it down the ice,” said Rucchin, back in the lineup after missing eight games because of a groin strain. “It was a great play by Young. Huge. It’s the kind of effort we need from everyone on this team.”