Ducks’ Loss Is Blues’ Gain

The Avoid Detroit Derby got underway quite some time ago, what with the Mighty Ducks and St. Louis Blues jockeying for fifth place in the NHL’s Western Conference.

Jockeying? Try scratching, biting, clawing, praying--anything legal or illegalotherwise to finish fifth and avoid the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Red Wings in the first round of the playoffs.

St. Louis’ 3-1 victory Wednesday over the Ducks before 16,510 at the Arrowhead Pond gave the Blues a one-point lead in the We Want Phoenix Sweepstakes.

The Ducks have 82 points and play the Kings tonight at the Great Western Forum before facing the seventh-place Sharks on Saturday at San Jose.

St. Louis, which has 83 points, plays the fourth-place Phoenix Coyotes tonight, then ends the regular season Sunday at the Forum against the Kings.

Wednesday’s victory also gave the Blues a 2-1-1 record against the Ducks this season, an important tiebreaker in case the teams finish with the same number of points.

Should the Ducks rebound from Wednesday’s loss and finish fifth, they’ll face the Coyotes in the first round. Phoenix lost its fourth consecutive game Wednesday, dropping a 4-2 decision to the Dallas Stars. The Coyotes also lost standout forward Jeremy Roenick to a broken jaw Wednesday.

All of which has the Ducks shaking their heads in disgust and the Blues feeling good this morning.

After all, the prospect of finishing sixth and facing the third-seeded Red Wings is a daunting task for either the Ducks or Blues.

St. Louis had no one to thank more for Wednesday’s victory than veteran goalie Grant Fuhr, who outplayed Duck goalie Guy Hebert and got a healthy dose of luck along the way.

Fuhr blanked the Ducks until well into the third period, giving the Blues a chance to build a 2-0 lead.

Finally, Teemu Selanne sent a missile off the left goal post and Paul Kariya punched the rebound into the net to cut the deficit to 2-1 at 5:04 of the third period.

The goal was Kariya’s 38th and his 99th point.

But the comeback stalled there. Scott Young, a former Duck, scored on a breakaway with 3:10 left and the Blues managed to hang on despite being outplayed in spectacular fashion for lengthy stretches.

The Ducks’ hearts certainly were in the right place to start the game.

They skated hard, handed out plenty of punishment along the boards and seemed to be skating in a gear the Blues could not match.

But something was missing.

The efficient play that enabled the Ducks to defeat the Phoenix Coyotes, 3-0, Sunday was lacking. Wednesday.The Ducks’ passes missed the mark and their shots often skidded wide or sailed high into the stands.

The Blues weren’t particularly awe-inspiring, but they were usually in the right spot at the right time. Certainly, all the bounces seemed to go the Blues’ way in the pivotal first two periods.

First, with the Ducks swarming the Blues’ net, Tomas Sandstrom put a point-blank shot into the stands instead of behind Fuhr at 5:27 of the first period.

Next, Marty McInnis and Matt Cullen misfired on short-range scoring chances while the Ducks were on a power play at 8:19.

Then, St. Louis’ Michel Picard sent what appeared to be a harmless shot from near the blue line on net. But the puck went in and out of Hebert’s glove before nestling in the back of the net for a goal at 16:12.

Twenty-five seconds later, Geoff Courtnall tapped a puck past Hebert for a 2-0 St. Louis lead.

By the end of the first period, it seemed the Ducks had punched themselves out without landing a much-needed haymaker.

The Ducks continued to buzz around Fuhr in the second period, but their touch around the net was just as bad. Or unlucky, depending on how you look at such things.

Ted Drury sent a one-timer into the seats. Selanne’s wraparound try went off the goal post. Travis Green’s blistering slap shot rang off the cross bar.

Three terrific second-period scoring chances resulted in nothing but more frustration for the Ducks. And the Blues maintained their two-goal lead going into the third period.