Donato Hopes This Is the Start of Something Big

There was a moment Sunday when everything Mighty Duck left wing Ted Donato did was perfect.

He picked up the puck in the neutral zone, skated up the right side and cut left in the Edmonton zone. Then, while staring Oiler goalie Bill Ranford in the eyes, Donato slipped a pass to Marty McInnis, who scored for a 1-0 lead less than five minutes into the game.

“I thought about shooting, just for a second,” Donato said after the Ducks’ 3-1 victory at the Pond. “Then I heard Marty yelling. I knew Ranford was a reflex goalie. Once he bit on me, Marty had an open net.”

This is what the Ducks were hoping to get from Donato when they acquired him from the Ottawa Senators in June. A little experience, a little energy, a little offense for the second line.

Donato could look back on Sunday’s game and say he did a lot of those things.

“Hopefully, this is the start of something,” Donato said. “I have had a lot of opportunities this season. The puck just hasn’t bounced my way. I know I can play better.”

His play Sunday will do. Donato may have been a bit player, but he did his bit.

He was in the middle of every battle and disrupted the Oilers with his forechecking. He had one so-so shot on goal, but one sweet pass.

Can the Ducks ask for anything more?

“That was his best game,” Coach Craig Hartsburg said. “We thought when we got him that he had a good two-way game.”

Donato did in eight seasons with Boston. He had 23 goals in 1995-96 and 25 in 1996-97. He bounced from Boston to the New York Islanders to Ottawa last season.

The Ducks got him cheap, giving up only goalie Patrick Lalime, who didn’t figure into their plans. But, until Sunday, Donato had brought little in return.

Donato has only one goal this season, against Tampa Bay on Oct. 15. Until Sunday, he had only one assist, against San Jose on Oct. 11.

Still, it was hard to pin it all on Donato. The entire second line has been in a funk.

“That line has to help out more,” Hartsburg said.

“I came here to give them a stronger second line,” he said, “and that is still my objective.”