Tenkrat Gives Ducks a Boost at Right Time

Mighty Duck rookie Petr Tenkrat had a great view for much of Thursday’s game against the Nashville Predators. All he was missing was the popcorn.

Tenkrat was limited to four minutes of ice time through the first two periods, while the Ducks tried to salvage something from another inconsistent performance.

In the end, Tenkrat provided them with a little luck, when he bolted down the right side and somehow scored to give the Ducks a 2-2 tie in front of 16,024 at the Gaylord Entertainment Center.

That goal helped the Ducks end a four-game losing streak and sent them to Minnesota with a little bounce.

The Ducks had to battle from behind twice while playing their second game in as many nights, and it took a burst from a 23-year old Czech native, who had all of seven NHL games behind him, to earn a tie.

“We got a breakout and I got a pass from [Matt Cullen],” Tenkrat said.

“I saw the net and I tried to hammer,” Tenkrat said.

Tenkrat wasn’t an unlikely hero. He scored a tying goal late against Detroit on Dec. 22. But by the third period Thursday, he was more or less out of the game. He sat all but a minute in the second period.

“He just didn’t seem to be able to get it going,” Coach Guy Charron said.

He did when things were desperate. Cullen picked up the puck and whipped a pass to Tenkrat, who burst down the right side. He got off a shot from a tough angle, but the puck hit goalie Mike Dunham on the shoulder and flipped over his shoulder into the net.

“I couldn’t believe he had as much gas as he did,” Cullen said. “I was dead tired because we had spent the half the shift working in our end. I was just going along as token pressure. He shot a bomb.”

The goal nailed down a point for the Ducks, who were beginning to lose sight of the playoff contenders. The tie left them happy, with some reservations.

“It was a big point for us,” defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky said. “But we can’t be satisfied with that. We’ve got to try to get two.”

They were fortunate to get one. The Predators outskated and outworked the Ducks much of the game.

There were bright spots for the Ducks. Teemu Selanne showed no ill effects from a groin injury that had forced him to miss four of seven games. German Titov, the $4.6-million free agent, had an assist, giving him points in consecutive games for the first time this season.

They also gave as well as they got, especially during an overtime scrum. Titov put Nashville’s Cliff Ronning in a headlock, which led to the Predators’ Drake Berehowsky and the Ducks’ Vitaly Vishnevski wrestling each other to the ice. Both received roughing penalties, with Berehowsky also getting an attempt-to-injure match penalty.

Still, such feisty play by the Ducks was nullified by much of the same wheel spinning that has haunted them since October. The Ducks woes were encapsulated in two plays, which resulted in Nashville goals.

Berehowsky whipped a shot from the blue line that goalie Guy Herbert easily stopped. The rebound, though, landed on a silver platter in front of Patrick Kjellberg, who flicked the puck past Hebert for a 1-0 lead at 15:30.

Titov set up Matt Cullen with a goal to tie the score at 12:31 of the second period. But bad luck and bad coverage put the Ducks behind again.

Tverdovsky stumbled with the puck at the Nashville blue line, giving the Predators a two-on-one break that resulted in a goal by Randy Robitaille.

“Those things happen,” Charron said. “I would have hoped to see a forward being able to back him up little. Some of our decisions could have been better under pressure.”

Like Tenkrat did when called on.

“I was just trying to put the puck on the net,” Tenkrat said. “It was a lucky shot. I was lucky.”

The kind of luck the Ducks have been lacking.