Burke Remains Unbeaten Against Ducks

What happened to the Ducks Sunday happened in a flash. Sure, Florida cruised to a 5-2 victory, but the game turned on one frantic moment for the Panthers and goalie Sean Burke.

With time running out in the second period, the Panthers turned the puck over in their own zone. The Ducks’ Ted Drury had a clear path to the net and let loose a wicked shot. Burke flung his body to the left and barely deflected the puck with three seconds left.

Instead of trailing, 2-1, the score remained tied.

“We turned the puck over, giving them the opportunity,” Coach Terry Murray said. “That has been a problem all season for us. But Sean got on the deck and made a tremendous save.”

The result was a happy ending. . . . for a change. The Panthers scored four goals in the third period and ended a two-game losing streak.

All because of one save? “We dominated the second period and, with three seconds left, we could have been down, 2-1,” said right wing Ray Whitney, who scored two third-period goals.

On such things a game can change.

“They are really good at creating shots, especially when [Paul] Kariya and Teemu [Selanne] are out there,” Burke said. “I saw the shot coming and I got down as fast as I could. I barely got a glove on it.”

It helped make up for a frustrating West Coast trip for the Panthers, and Burke. He made 24 saves in shutting out Tampa Bay, 1-0, March 13. It put the Panthers a game over .500 with 16 left, as they tried to close on the Boston Bruins for the final playoff spot.

Then the Panthers headed west and their game went south.

Burke gave up four goals in a 4-2 loss to San Jose on Wednesday. Kirk McLean started against the Kings Saturday, but after he gave up three goals in 10 minutes, Burke was sent in.

He proceeded to give up one more goal before the period was over, making it 4-0. Burke was tagged with the loss because it was the deciding goal in a 4-3 loss.

Considering San Jose and the Kings were the easy stops on this trip, things didn’t stack up too well heading into Sunday.

“We needed a win desperately and we knew we were really going to have to fight for it tonight,” Burke said. “The funny thing was, we were pretty relaxed before the game. I guess we knew what we needed to do.”

Or maybe his teammates just knew that Burke had never lost to the Ducks in three previous games.

“I have a winning record against them?” Burke said. “That’s the first I heard of that. I can name plenty of teams I have a losing record against.”

He made it 4-0 against the Ducks by stopping 25 of 27 shots.

“Sean didn’t have to do a lot tonight, but he came up big on that one save,” Whitney said.