Ducks Can’t Escape Colorado’s Clutches

The energy level was probably better at South Coast Plaza.

Meanwhile, another catatonic crowd at the Arrowhead Pond watched the Mighty Ducks attempt to skate past the clutching and grabbing Colorado Avalanche on Friday night.

The lone bright spot in an otherwise forgettable 2-1 Duck loss to Colorado before an announced crowd of 13,927 was the standout goaltending of the Avalanche’s Patrick Roy.

Roy made 24 saves--some spectacular, some routine--in earning career victory No. 423, which tied him with Tony Esposito for third on the NHL’s all-time list.

“It’s nice to reach a guy who had such a good career,” Roy said. “But it’s not my goal. I tried to focus on my game and give my team a chance to win tonight.”

Roy needs 25 victories to pass Terry Sawchuk and become the league’s all-time leader with 448 wins.

After falling behind, 2-0, only 5:44 into the second period, the Ducks created all sorts of scoring chances in front of Roy, but they couldn’t defeat him.

“We’ve got to do more early in the game, rather than waiting to see how the game develops,” Coach Craig Hartsburg said after the Ducks fell to 0-4-2 in their last six games at the Pond.

“Once we woke up after being down two goals we were fine. Early in the game, we’ve got to be more desperate. We have to win more battles.”

Asked about the near-silent crowd, Hartsburg said, “I don’t think it’s my job or the players’ jobs to be asking anybody to provide energy for us. We have to do our jobs, and we have to do it earlier in the game.”

Chris Drury and Jeff Odgers, who had a slow-moving backhander that wound up being the game-winner, scored for Colorado.

Ruslan Salei had the lone Duck goal, which cut the Avalanche lead to 2-1 late in the second period.

It was difficult to win any one-on-one battles against the Avalanche, which seemed bound and determined to jump on the backs of the Ducks every time they had the puck in the attacking zone.

Colorado’s defensive-oriented play made for dull stretches of hockey, but it was probably a sound game plan against the Ducks. The Vancouver Canucks played in a similar manner Wednesday and escaped with a 2-2 tie.

The Ducks managed little in the way off offense in the opening minutes, then fell behind, 1-0, on Drury’s power-play goal at 18:46 of the first period.

Odgers gave Colorado a 2-0 lead at 5:44 with a goal that had to be seen to be fully appreciated. He muscled a weak backhander through traffic that Guy Hebert failed to notice trickling between his pads.

Odgers didn’t seem to believe it was possible he scored, chasing after the puck after it bounced out of the net and back in front of Hebert.

Hebert dropped to cover the puck, thinking it couldn’t possibly have gone past him already.

But the fans’ groans and the goal judge’s red light indicated it was indeed a goal for Odgers, his first since Dec. 12, 1998.

“It was not a good goal,” Hartsburg said. “It’s unfortunate because [Hebert] made some great saves. We’ve got to find some ways to score goals like that one.”

Instead of folding, the Ducks redoubled their efforts. They buzzed Roy’s net, hoping for a break. The pressure was intense, particularly on back-to-back shifts that kept the puck in the Colorado zone for extended periods.

Finally, Salei whistled a shot from the left point through traffic and past Roy for his first goal of the season at 15:04 of the second.

It was Salei’s first point this season and his first goal since last Jan. 1 against the Buffalo Sabres, part of a seven-goal outburst against Dominik Hasek.

Colorado played it safe and sane in the final period, pressing forward in search of a back-breaking goal only occasionally. The Avalanche played a rope-a-dope style, icing the puck repeatedly to thwart the Ducks.

An obstruction hooking penalty to Marty McInnis at the 17:57 mark effectively killed any hopes the Ducks had at a third-period comeback.