Ducks Make Trip Complete With Comeback at St. Louis

The Mighty Ducks’ whooping and hollering drowned out the sounds of 20,290 fans trudging to the Kiel Center exits after the final buzzer Saturday night.

The Ducks then poured over the boards to celebrate with goaltender Guy Hebert after rallying for a 4-3 victory over the St. Louis Blues.

“It’s going to be a good flight home,” right wing Teemu Selanne said after the Ducks won both games on their cross-country trip to play Tampa Bay and St. Louis on consecutive nights.

“Everybody’s smiling. Even the coaches are smiling.”

After a rocky January in which the Ducks were a woeful 4-9-1 and seemed to be headed off the rails, they have rebounded to win three in a row to start February.

OK, so Saturday’s victory was merely the Ducks’ seventh on the road and marked only the second time they have rallied to win after trailing after two periods this season.

There were still plenty of reasons to celebrate, starting with the victory itself and including Fredrik Olausson’s 500th point, Pascal Trepanier’s first NHL goal and Matt Cullen’s third goal in as many games.

Those are names not often associated with winning performances by the Ducks, but those unexpected contributions also were a reason to be jumping for joy--as several of the players were at game’s end.

“It’s a big, big boost for our team,” Olausson said.

The Ducks could use it later this week. Wednesday, they host the Philadelphia Flyers, the Eastern Conference leaders. Friday, they host the Dallas Stars, the Western Conference leaders.

Getting victories against the pathetic Lightning, last in the NHL with 26 points, and the scrappy, but beatable Blues was almost imperative after the way last month went for the Ducks.

As expected, the Ducks defeated Tampa Bay, 5-3, Friday.

But all their good intentions went bust in a dispiriting first 20 minutes against St. Louis. The Blues scored once on the power play and once short-handed and led, 2-0, after the first period.

Cullen’s goal, only 2:32 into the second period, cut the deficit in half. But St. Louis defenseman Al MacInnis scored the second of his two goals, which gave the Blues a 3-1 lead at 14:06 of the second period.

That seemed like a good time for the Ducks to pack it in. They could chalk this one up to bad travel, bad scheduling, a tough opponent and/or just plain dumb luck and no one would have quibbled.

Instead, the Ducks roared to life with three third-period goals in a span of only 5:08 and extended their unbeaten streak at the Kiel Center to 3-0-2.

Left wing Marty McInnis scored on a quick shot from the slot, Olausson scored on a one-timer from the top of the right circle and Trepanier sent a missile from the left point through traffic and past goalie Grant Fuhr.

“We didn’t make a bunch of fancy plays,” Duck Coach Craig Hartsburg said. “We just kept putting the puck on net and we were rewarded. We did some good things once we got the lead.”

The Ducks also received a healthy dose of good fortune in the third period. St. Louis’ Bryan Helmer, with 5:29 to go, and Scott Pellerin, with 33 seconds left, hit the goal post.

Actually, Pellerin’s one-timer from the left faceoff circle hit both goal posts, striking the left one, glancing off the leg of Duck defenseman Kevin Haller and trickling to the right one before Hebert smothered it.

“There were a couple of lucky breaks for us and a couple of unlucky ones for them,” Olausson said. “That was a tough one tonight.”

The puck seemed to have a mind of its own at times Saturday.

MacInnis’ first goal was a case in point. Olausson’s wide slap shot from the left point went around the boards to St. Louis’ Craig Conroy, who passed ahead to MacInnis, who was exiting the penalty box after serving a high-sticking minor.

MacInnis, on a breakaway, beat Hebert with a blistering slap shot and the Blues led, 2-0, only 10:04 into the game.

“He just wound up and, wow, he’s a great hockey player,” Olausson said of MacInnis, who scored his 13th and 14th goals of the season.

The Ducks benefited from kind bounces on their third and fourth goals. Olausson’s shot glanced off the stick of St. Louis defenseman Chris Pronger and past Fuhr. Trepanier’s goal deflected off Pronger’s skate into the net.

“Tonight, we got some good bounces,” Hartsburg said. “But guys like McInnis, [Ted] Drury and Trepanier were rewarded for their hard work. It was a huge two points.”