Ducks Grind Out Flames

Ladislav Kohn was there and so was the puck. A lot of frustration was about to come to an end.

Kohn scored--how could he not into an almost-empty net?--at 13 minutes 11 seconds of the third period to give the Mighty Ducks a 2-1 victory over the Calgary Flames Wednesday.

The victory ended the Ducks’ three-game losing streak.

Kohn had his first goal as a Duck and his first in 31 games.

The power play ended an 0-for-14 scoreless streak, covering nearly six games.

Was Kohn happy? You bet.

“It hit me in front somewhere,” Kohn said. “At this point, I don’t really care.”

You could almost hear Coach Craig Hartsburg sigh, “Amen.”

It all happened in semi-privacy. An announced crowd of 12,922 showed up at the Pond, the smallest in franchise history.

But this was a good start to a four-game homestand.

At least the Ducks showed up.

“We’re learning what price we have to pay consistently to win,” Hartsburg said. “It’s easy to get ready for one game, but to do it for 82 games is something young players and teams have to learn. Sometimes that is not an easy process to go through.”

The process had bogged down lately, mainly because of poor special-team play. The power play had no oomph, and the only thing the penalty-killing units were killing was the Ducks.

Wednesday’s performance was not an overnight cure, but it was a step forward. “We were better,” Hartsburg said.

The Ducks let a 1-0 third-period lead slip away when they were out-worked for one of the few times all evening.

The Flames’ Valeri Bure pushed the puck up ice while being taken down. Jeff Shantz picked it up in the Ducks’ zone, then fed a perfect center pass to Cory Stillman, who beat both goalie Guy Hebert and a sliding Oleg Tverdovsky to tie the score, 1-1, at 8:19 of the third period.

The Ducks, and Kohn, didn’t wait long to answer. Jason Wiemer was sent off for high sticking at 12:14. The Ducks’ power play, scoreless in two chances, had one more opportunity.

Paul Kariya sent a shot in and Steven Rucchin redirected it to the left, where Kohn was standing. The puck deflected off him and into the net for the Ducks’ first power-play goal since Nov. 3 against Philadelphia.

It was Kohn’s first goal since Feb. 22 against Washington, when he was with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“You don’t want to think about those things out there, but I would be lying if I said it wasn’t something that was on my mind,” Kohn said. “I have been getting chances. This was a relief. I really appreciate Hartsburg sticking with me and giving me ice time.”

Of course, he was there on that play only because Teemu Selanne was out a second game because of a groin injury. But why quibble? Kohn had the goal, off some part of his body.

“You wish those breaks would go our way once in a while,” Flame Coach Brian Sutter said. “We did a good job on Kariya, what more can you do?”

Hartsburg has been asking himself the same question recently about his not-so-special teams. The Duck penalty killers had given up six goals in the last eight chances and ranked last in the NHL.

The Ducks found a novel way to solve that problem. They stayed out of the penalty box. The Flames had only two power plays.

Pavel Trnka was sent off for interference in the second period, but the Flames didn’t even get a shot on goal. Hebert did the work when Kariya went off for tripping early in the third period. He made four saves, including snagging Marc Savard’s drive.

“We’re finding a way to win some nights and some nights we don’t seem to have the discipline,” said Hebert, who stopped 29 shots.

It helps when the bounces go your way.