Ducks Enjoy Ratings Winner in Calgary

There have been many, many great games in the storied history of “Hockey Night in Canada,” the tie that binds the Great White North on wintry Saturday nights.

But the Mighty Ducks versus Calgary Flames on Saturday evening at the Canadian Airlines Saddledome wasn’t one of them.

The Ducks couldn’t care less. After all, their 1-0 victory over the Flames was only their second in the last eight games.

The Canadian Broadcasting Co. might have burned the videotape by this morning, vowing never to show the Ducks and Flames again this season. But how it looked to millions across Canada meant nothing to the Ducks.

“Hey, a win’s a win,” left wing Paul Kariya said.

Added goaltender Guy Hebert, who stopped all 24 shots he faced for his second shutout this season: “That was a great win, a solid win. I thought we played a really solid game. We kept the puck in their zone for long periods, except for the first few minutes and the last few.”

Rookie defenseman Mike Crowley scored the game’s only goal, thanks to a mental error by Calgary hot head Theoren Fleury, known to make a few here and there.

Flame defenseman Steve Smith was headed to the penalty box for boarding Duck winger Marty McInnis when Fleury took an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty, giving the Ducks a two-man advantage for two minutes.

That’s not necessarily the slam dunk it would seem. After all, the Ducks couldn’t score during a five-on-three situation for 1:31 in a 5-2 loss Friday to the Vancouver Canucks.

This time, the Ducks made Fleury pay for losing his cool at defenseman Kevin Haller at 12:42.

Twelve seconds later, Crowley whistled a slap shot from just inside the blue line past goalie Tyler Moss. Kariya and center Steve Rucchin picked up the assists.

Moss didn’t have much of a chance on Crowley’s second goal of the season, which deflected off a Calgary player stationed in front of the net.

“There were still 50 minutes left in the game,” Fleury said, trying to defend himself at game’s end. “If we can’t overcome a one-goal deficit, we’re not a very good team. If you guys [reporters] want to hang this one on me, go right ahead.

“I’ve won more games for this team than I’ve lost, that’s for sure.”

The Ducks swarmed Moss for most of the second period, but failed to click on a second goal. McInnis had the best chance, but came away empty at about the 14-minute mark.

Kariya swept behind the Calgary net, but instead of continuing to the left wing, as Moss expected, stopped and slipped a pass to McInnis in the right faceoff circle.

McInnis’ one-timer struck a hopelessly beaten Moss in the skates and sailed out of harm’s way.

Meanwhile, the Flames excelled only at going offsides during a lackluster second period. Hebert had to face only four shots in the period, and had stopped all 14 the Flames managed in the game’s first 40 minutes.

Without injured wingers Tomas Sandstrom and Teemu Selanne for the second consecutive night, Coach Craig Hartsburg made radical changes to his lines. He also scratched defenseman Fredrik Olausson, playing Pavel Trnka instead.

Hartsburg had Rucchin playing with wingers Jeff Nielsen and Jim McKenzie on the second line to better balance the offensive potential. Rookie center Johan Davidsson moved between Kariya and McInnis on the first line.

Hebert, who did not play for the first time in 13 games on Friday against Vancouver, returned to the lineup and looked better for having taken a game off.

Not that the Ducks needed him often--at least not in the game’s first 40 minutes. It got a bit frantic at the end, what with the team’s skating four on four after minor penalties to Duck defenseman Jason Marshall and Calgary’s Cory Stillman.