Ducks Start With a Flourish, but Fade in Loss to Avalanche

Another third-period swoon. Some mental gaffes. A wasted opportunity.

This was the way the Mighty Ducks came out of the All-Star break on Wednesday. Hoping for a fresh start, they ended up with a stale performance in a 4-3 loss to Colorado in front of an announced crowd of 15,011 at the Arrowhead Pond.

“You really want to start the second half well,” said Teemu Selanne, who scored his 22nd goal for the Ducks. “You want it to be like a snowball rolling downhill, getting bigger and bigger and bigger.”

Before it could get up much steam, that snowball was buried by the Avalanche, which scored two third-period goals to win its sixth consecutive game.

Colorado is 7-1-1 since Jan. 4. Joe Sakic has scored seven goals in the last six games, including what turned out to be the game-winner at 5:55 of the third period.

The Ducks, though, nudged the Avalanche along. The Ducks gorged themselves during the first 10 minutes, only to see a 2-0 lead wilt. They wasted a two-goal performance by Steve Rucchin and had another third-period fade.

It was 2-2 after two periods, but goals by Greg DeVries, his first, and Sakic put the Ducks in a hole. Sakic’s goal came on a power play, after the Ducks’ Stu Grimson dumped Claude Lemieux in front of the Colorado bench . . . and two officials. A point that was not lost on Anaheim Coach Craig Hartsburg.

“It’s never too late to learn,” Hartsburg said. “We need to play desperate and hungry in these hockey games. We were at times. We weren’t at other times.”

It was those other times that hurt.

Colorado’s Valeri Kamensky raced down the left side with time running out in the first period and Duck defenseman Jamie Pushor let him pass. Kamensky slipped a shot between Guy Hebert’s legs with 0.3 seconds left. Instead of trailing, 2-0, the Avalanche was one goal down.

In the second period, after Chris Drury was hit with a double-minor for high sticking, the Ducks failed to take advantage of a four-minute power play. They managed only three shots, none threatening.

Later in the period, Duck defenseman Fredrik Olausson got spun around in the crease, lost sight of the play and had a Peter Forsberg shot deflect off his skate into the net.

Then came the third-period collapse.

“Something happens to us in the third period,” Olausson said. “We sit back a little. When we have the lead, like after the first period tonight, we need to push a little harder. Hopefully, that’s something we can develop.”

Rucchin’s second goal with 2:52 left did seem to put some life back in the Ducks. But goalie Patrick Roy snuffed it out, making two desperate saves on Paul Kariya in the last three minutes--the second a pad save on a blast from a few feet out with seven seconds left.

They were the most spectacular saves in a game neither goalie will put on his resume. But Roy and Hebert were dealing with radically different weeks.

Roy had a fat contract extension bestowed on him, one that will pay him $15 million over the next two seasons. Hebert’s week wasn’t so pleasant. He suffered through a stomach virus that forced him to miss two games and left him 10 pounds lighter.

Hebert was certainly not at full strength Wednesday, although his only concerns were about his counterpart.

“Patrick got a new deal, so he’s happy,” Hebert said. “A happy goalie is a dangerous goalie.

“It’s got to help Patrick’s concentration. He has his head in the game instead of worrying about the next season. It’s nice for him that he could put that behind him.”

That wasn’t meant to be a hefty hint, although Hebert is in the last year of a two-year contract.

Said General Manager Pierre Gauthier: “We are happy with his play. We like Guy. In due time, we’ll address his future with us.”