Ducks’ Attack Blunted Repeatedly by Shields

He might have ranted, stewed and cursed the Mighty Ducks’ fate Friday against the San Jose Sharks. But Coach Craig Hartsburg would not go into a funk after a 2-2 tie before 15,958 at the Arrowhead Pond.

No, Hartsburg hasn’t mellowed out in his short time in the Southern California sun, turning from dour taskmaster to puppy dog in a little more than a month as the Ducks’ coach.

Yes, he would have been happier if the Ducks hadn’t squandered a two-goal lead, a whopping advantage in shots on goal and a healthy edge in crushing hits along the boards.

But Hartsburg was encouraged by the Ducks’ play Friday, a far better showing than a 3-1 loss Wednesday to the St. Louis Blues. Or, for that matter, a 2-2 tie Oct. 31 against the Blues.

“We’ve got to build on tonight,” Hartsburg said after the Ducks dropped to 0-6-1 in their last seven games against San Jose.

“We’ve go to take steps forward. We’ve got to keep working on our habits. The result at the end of the game could have been better, but these things even up over the course of the year. We stole one [in the tie] from the Blues the other night.”

The Ducks outshot the Sharks, 47-30, put only two behind backup goalie Steve Shields and could do no better than a tie Friday.

This is encouraging news?

“We were much more intense and we battled like we can,” said Hartsburg, who was not at all pleased by the Ducks’ efforts in the two games against the Blues.

Hartsburg hammered away at the Ducks’ work-ethic during a short but intense practice Thursday and during a pregame meeting Friday morning.

It seemed to work.

“I think we were all embarrassed by the effort against St. Louis,” said right wing Tomas Sandstrom, who scored the first of two Duck power-play goals Friday. “You can’t just throw your skates on and expect to win a hockey game. We had a better effort tonight.

“For sure, we would have liked to have had the two points. We played well. Maybe we were destined for more, but that’s the way this game is.”

Left wing Paul Kariya agreed--up to a point.

“Their goalie played well, but we still had a 2-0 lead,” Kariya said. “You still have to close it out. But we had a lot better effort tonight. Maybe we should have won it, but we got one on the road. I guess it’s karma.”

The Ducks built their two-goal lead on power-play goals by Sandstrom in the first period and defenseman Ruslan Salei in the second.

It was a pleasing development for Hartsburg, whose power-play unit has been on the blink for most of the season. The Ducks went into the game with five power-play goals in 50 chances, the fourth-lowest conversion rate in the NHL.

The Ducks also managed to kill off a five-on-three situation for 1:26 early in the second period. Salei’s goal at 8:50 then gave the Ducks a 2-0 lead that wouldn’t last.

San Jose’s Jeff Friesen scored his 11th goal in 21 games against the Ducks to ignite the Shark comeback with less than a minute left in the second period.

Leading, 2-1, midway through the third period, the Ducks then watched San Jose’s Ron Sutter win a faceoff from Steve Rucchin to goalie Guy Hebert’s right.

The puck went to David Lowry in the high slot and his quick wrist shot whistled past Hebert and into the net to tie the score, 2-2, at 10:27.

Enforcer Jim McKenzie had the Ducks’ best chance in overtime, but couldn’t convert from point-blank range. Defenseman Jamie Pushor’s point shot hit Shields in the mask a moment later.

Unlike Wednesday’s dud against the Blues, the Ducks actually played fairly consistently for three periods plus a five-minute overtime Friday.

Referee Mark Faucette dropped the puck at precisely 7:40 p.m. Friday, and the Ducks were on time for a change.

The Ducks were no-shows Wednesday as far as Hartsburg was concerned. He ripped them for their lack of effort after Wednesday’s loss ended their six-game unbeaten streak.

Asked what was said at the meeting Friday morning, Hartsburg repeated a line uttered by a thousand coaches a thousand times.

“If I wanted you to know what was said, I would have invited you into the meeting,” he said, managing a faint smile.