Cold Spell Ends for Ducks’ Roussel

The Mighty Ducks defeated the Colorado Avalanche, 1-0, Tuesday night at McNichols Arena.

How and why it happened defied conventional wisdom. Certainly the Avalanche and 16,061 of their fans went away stunned at game’s end.

Neither Paul Kariya nor Teemu Selanne had a goal or an assist for the Ducks, ending seven- and six-game point streaks, respectively. The power-play unit failed to score for the first time in nine games, coming up empty on six chances with the man advantage.

But wait, there was more.

Goaltender Guy Hebert did not play. The defense gave up a whopping 45 shots, including 19 in the third period.

Give credit for the improbable victory to backup goalie Dominic Roussel.

Hebert did.

“I’m pretty much speechless,” Hebert said. “We didn’t give the guy any help out there. He pretty much won the game for us.”

There was no argument from Coach Craig Hartsburg.

“It wasn’t perfect, other than for one guy,” Hartsburg said.

It was a long time coming, as far as Roussel was concerned.

Roussel, playing for the first time since losing to the expansion Nashville Predators, 3-1, Nov. 27, hadn’t won an NHL game since March 22, 1996, while with the Winnipeg Jets (now the Phoenix Coyotes).

His last shutout was Oct. 14, 1995, while with the Philadelphia Flyers.

“A couple of years ago, I was asking myself a lot of questions,” said Roussel, who played in the minors in 1996-97 and with the Canadian national team last season. “I wasn’t certain I would ever get another chance.”

Jeff Nielsen scored the game’s only goal, swiping Colorado goalie Patrick Roy’s brutal clearing pass at the right-wing boards and whistling a shot into the net at 5:10 of the second period.

That also ranks as a surprise.

Nielsen, for all of his energetic play on the fourth line, hadn’t scored a goal since April 19 against the St. Louis Blues. Sure, his first goal of the season came gift-wrapped, but it also broke a 30-game drought.

It was the first goal Roy had given up at home in 228 minutes 55 seconds. New Jersey’s Bobby Holik had the last goal against Roy at Denver, on Nov. 28.

“I knew as much as he plays the puck, he’s bound to give one up,” Hebert said of Roy, who defeated the Ducks, 4-2, Monday at the Arrowhead Pond.

Roy, headed to the Hall of Fame once his playing days are done, was only the second-best French-Canadian goalie on the ice Tuesday.

Roy stopped 19 of 20 shots, including several on flurries around his net in the third period. Roussel stopped all 45 shots he faced. No two were tougher than the jabs Claude Lemieux had at the puck in the final moments as Roy went to the bench in favor of a sixth skater.

“He stopped 45 point-blank shots,” Duck left wing Jim McKenzie said of Roussel, who was winless in three earlier starts this season. “He gets down in that [crouch] and his legs look the bumpers on a pinball machine. He just kept kicking them out. He should be tired after this. I felt sorry for the guy. It was amazing to watch.”

It wasn’t anything the Ducks hadn’t seen Roussel do in practice, as Selanne reminded him Tuesday afternoon.

“I was joking with him before the game,” Selanne said. “I told him, ‘If you can stop me and [Kariya] in practice, why can’t you stop these guys in the game?’ ”

But it’s always difficult for a backup goalie to stay sharp while the starter plays the bulk of the games. The early action around Roussel’s net Tuesday probably helped him after 10 consecutive games on the bench.

Many of the Avalanche’s shots in the first two periods were from long range, keeping Roussel on his toes but not testing him severely. By the time Colorado drew closer in the third period, Roussel was ready.

Of course, his teammates didn’t exactly leap to his rescue. The opposite was true. Pavel Trnka was whistled for holding at 13:59 of the third period. Jamie Pushor then went to the penalty box for high sticking at 16:04.

“I was trying not to, but I did look at the clock and tried not to be afraid,” Roussel said. “After the second penalty I was thinking, ‘No more, please.’ ”