It’s Hit and Miss

His mask was sort of an off-white color and was adorned with Mighty Duck stickers, not the usual personalized touch you might see on the faces of other NHL goaltenders.

Dominic Roussel didn’t seem to mind Saturday night.

The defense in front of him had taken more than its fair share of shots in a disappointing exhibition season and wasn’t expected to do much in the regular-season opener.

Roussel didn’t care.

The opposition Saturday was coming off an appearance in the Stanley Cup finals, losing to the Detroit Red Wings.

Roussel was unfazed.

Fact is, he was happy simply to be back in the NHL after spending one season in the minors and another playing for the Canadian national team.

Roussel thought about it for a minute, but couldn’t come up with a definitive answer when someone asked when he last started an NHL game.

“Hmmmm,” he said. “I’m not sure. It had to be with . . . Winnipeg?”

Way back in the 1995-96 season.

It might have made a better story if Roussel had defeated the Washington Capitals in giving up only one goal at the MCI Center. Well, he did give up only Richard Zednik’s power-play goal 4:35 into the game.

But the Ducks failed to score against Washington’s Olaf Kolzig and Roussel picked up a loss in his return to the NHL.

He didn’t seem to mind losing, either. Filling in for Guy Hebert, nursing a separated shoulder, was reward enough for Roussel.

“Sometimes you think, ‘Am I ever going to get another chance?’ ” Roussel said after stopping 33 of 34 shots in the Ducks’ 1-0 loss. “I felt I was ready to go tonight.”