Ducks Get a Scare, but Hold Off Penguins

The Mighty Ducks broke from their offensive slump Monday night, ended their two-game losing streak and subdued the Pittsburgh Penguins, 5-3, before an announced crowd of 15,016 at the Arrowhead Pond.

But Coach Craig Hartsburg wasn’t happy about it.

Who could blame him after the Ducks nearly let a four-goal lead slip away?

“To me, it’s disgusting the way that happened at the end,” Hartsburg said. “Our pride and total team commitment aren’t there yet. You get a lead and that should be it. You don’t back off and expect your goaltender to win the game for you.

“That’s not right.”

The Ducks put their aggressive game on cruise control after building a 4-0 lead midway through the third period, and nearly paid for it with a terrible loss.

Instead, the Ducks managed to squander only a portion of their lead as Pittsburgh rallied with goals by Martin Straka, who scored twice, and German Titov.

Finally, with 25 seconds left and the desperate Ducks clinging to a 4-3 lead, left wing Paul Kariya put the game away with an empty-net goal.

“Desperate” and “clinging” were not two words Hartsburg wanted to have associated with the Ducks’ 17th victory, particularly after they played with passion and execution in building their 4-0 lead.

“Hopefully, it’s a lesson we learn,” Hartsburg said. “We played well to get a 4-0 lead. It’s a slap to our goaltender’s face to give up so many shots. It’s tough to get up the ice when you stop skating.

“Hopefully, this is a cheap lesson to learn. The next time we get in that situation, maybe it doesn’t happen again.”

All this after the Ducks did so much to please their coach after 50 minutes Monday.

Fredrik Olausson scored a goal in his fifth consecutive game, the league’s longest streak by a defenseman since April 1995. Marty McInnis ended a nine-game goal drought by scoring twice. Tomas Sandstrom scored his first goal since Nov. 8.

It was the most goals the Ducks had scored since defeating the Edmonton Oilers, 6-4, Jan. 10. They lost, 3-1, Friday to Dallas and 2-1 last Wednesday to Calgary.

But it all meant nothing by game’s end because the Ducks couldn’t seem to get out of their own way in the final 7:50.

Titov ended goaltender Guy Hebert’s shutout bid with a quick shot from the right faceoff circle at the 12:10 mark.

Straka scored a power-play goal at 16:50, then added an even-strength goal at 18:24.

“We won,” McInnis said. “That’s about all you can say about that.”

After setting up residence in Hartsburg’s doghouse during his goal slump, McInnis had his best game in weeks.

Until the Ducks’ collapse at the end, McInnis had seized the game and made it his.

His first goal came with the Ducks skating five on three early in the second period and it gave them a 2-0 lead. His second goal seemed to be the backbreaker, giving the Ducks a 4-0 lead at 8:15 of the third period.

“It was ugly,” McInnis said of the finish. “We gave them too much room and they took advantage of the extra space.”

Asked about ending his slump, McInnis brightened. But he had to explain how he could miss an empty net on Kariya’s centering pass from the right wing to the left goal post.

Luckily for McInnis, he got a second crack at scoring after pulling the first attempt wide left.

Kariya slipped him the puck on an almost identical play a moment later and McInnis didn’t miss.

“I can’t believe I missed that first one,” McInnis said. “I’m just happy I didn’t screw it up again. I really blew the first one. Paul gave me a great pass.

“On the second one, I just held my stick tighter.”