Sharks Move In for Kill in Overtime

Brutal. Hideous. Preposterous.

There’s simply no pleasant way to describe the manner in which the Mighty Ducks sunk to new depths in turning a two-goal third-period lead into a 3-2 overtime loss Thursday to the Sharks before a sellout crowd of 17,496 at San Jose Arena.

Coach Craig Hartsburg, who is about to add the dubious title of “beleaguered” to his name if things don’t soon improve, had a few other choice words after the Ducks ended November with a miserable 2-8-3-1 record.

“You can call it whatever you want,” Hartsburg said. “Disheartening. Frustrating. A tough pill to swallow. Whatever. We find a way not to play a full 60 minutes.”

Or 64 minutes 50 seconds as the case was against the Sharks.

The Ducks worked overtime Thursday to run their record to 2-9-3-1 in their last 15 games. The Ducks’ losing ways once again prompted postgame questions about the futures of all-star wingers Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne in Anaheim.

“It was made very clear by our general manager that we have to fight our way through this,” Hartsburg said, referring to Pierre Gauthier’s Nov. 17 speech to the team. “We can’t look for magic wands to help us get out of this. It has to come from this group.”

The Ducks had the Sharks on the run for most of Thursday’s game, taking a 2-0 lead on power-play goals by Kariya and Mike Leclerc. Defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky assisted on both.

Goaltending Dominic Roussel was superb in goal, blanking the Sharks for more than two periods. The Ducks’ penalty-killing unit was sharp, muzzling the Shark power play on six chances.

But the Ducks collapsed in a heap around Roussel’s net in the final minutes of the third period, giving up even-strength goals to Mike Ricci at the 7:12 mark and Patrick Marleau at 13:40.

When it appeared the Ducks might survive with a tie, defenseman Brad Stuart unleashed a wicked slap shot that Roussel kicked to the left-wing boards.

San Jose’s Owen Nolan overskated the rebound, but defenseman Scott Hannan collected the puck at the boards.

Hannan sent a casual flip on net that deflected off Duck defenseman Niclas Havelid’s knee pit and by Roussel’s left armpit for the winning goal with 10 seconds left.

It was Hannan’s first goal of the season.

“I tried to go for Nolan, who was at the goal line,” Havelid said, trying to explain his actions on the play. “I don’t think I screened him [Roussel], but I don’t think he had a good look at the shot. Everything happened so quick.”

Indeed, Hannan’s goal would almost be forgivable if it happened in, say, the first or second periods, when the game isn’t on the line. It also would be easy to dismiss it as a bit of a fluke, something that happens from time to time.

But there have been a great many of these sorts of goals in recent days and weeks for the Ducks. At game’s end, the Ducks had only themselves to blame.

They failed to continue the offensive pressure that enabled them to take a 2-0 lead after Kariya’s power-play goal 3:49 into the third period. They failed to protect Roussel’s net the way they had in building their modest advantage.

Ricci and Marleau each scored after scrambles in front of Roussel.

“We played a great first two periods and a good first part of the third,” Hartsburg said. “We had everything in hand, then we made a couple of mistakes. It was in our hands and we made some mistakes that cost us.

“The power play came through and we had a chance to win. The power play gave us a chance to get the lead and we didn’t do a very good job of holding it.”

Despite outshooting the Sharks, 38-25, the Ducks’ winless streak grew to 0-3-0-1. But because they managed to get to overtime, the Ducks picked up their 23rd point of the season.

In the end, they were rewarded for their failure.

“We made too many careless mistakes,” Hartsburg said. “You’re not going to win against the good teams in this league if you’re careless. It’s been too much of a theme for us. We’ve got to play 60 minutes of team hockey, not going for personal glory.”