Ducks Let One Go to Waste Against Sharks

The Mighty Ducks got a good, long look Friday at the San Jose Sharks, one of the teams they hope to catch and pass to earn a Stanley Cup playoff berth.

For the better part of two periods, there seemed to be a yawning chasm between the teams. The Ducks had their skates firmly planted on the Sharks’ throats.

The third period was an all-out rumble, punctuated by strange bounces and momentary Duck lapses that enabled the Sharks to score three times and rally for a 4-4 tie.

The Ducks, ninth in the NHL’s Western Conference with 60 points, trail the seventh-place Sharks, who have 65.

An announced crowd of 16,868 at the Arrowhead Pond tried their best to follow the bouncing puck, but it proved to be a chore. Certainly, Duck goalie Guy Hebert didn’t have much luck.

Defenseman Ruslan Salei’s first goal in 26 games gave the Ducks a 4-3 lead with 7:44 remaining in the third, putting them in command again after squandering a 3-1 lead to start the period.

In the dying minutes of the third period, however, Salei’s clearing pass was intercepted by a leaping Vincent Damphousse along the left-wing boards. Damphousse fired the puck at Hebert, who made the save. But the puck fluttered into the air.

San Jose’s Tony Granato swatted at the puck, but failed to make good contact. Suddenly, the puck was lying in the crease, and then it wasn’t.

Niklas Sundstrom tapped it by Hebert for a 4-4 tie with 2:22 left.

Damphousse’s first goal in 24 games got San Jose even at 3-all 5:16 into the third. Stationed below the goal line to Hebert’s right, Damphousse sent a centering pass toward Granato, who was fighting for position in front of the net with Duck winger Ladislav Kohn.

The puck struck Hebert and trickled into the net.

Scott Hannan got the Sharks’ rally started, scoring his first NHL goal 2:28 into the third period. Hannan caught Hebert leaning the wrong way and beat him with a quick shot from the slot.

Until the frantic final moments, the Ducks seemed to have figured out a way to get Hebert’s confidence back after his lackluster showing in Wednesday’s 6-5 overtime victory against the Calgary Flames. They gave up two meager shots in a scoreless first period.

Gary Suter had the first one, a harmless flip from center ice with 7:42 left in the opening period. Patrick Marleau had the other one and it wasn’t much to speak of either.

It was the third time this season the Ducks had limited an opponent to two shots in a period.

The Ducks fired 14 pucks on net, but failed to click on five power-play chances. San Jose beat a steady path to the penalty box in the second period too.

But Matt Cullen’s goal 6:08 into the second period came while the teams were at full strength. Cullen slipped behind the Shark defense, faked goalie Steve Shields to the ice and deposited the puck behind him.

Cullen, who has a six-game point streak, made the play go, poking a loose puck in the neutral zone to Ted Donato. Donato then passed ahead to Kip Miller, who fed Cullen, who was ahead of the pack.

“It was actually a great play by my linemates,” Cullen said during a between-periods TV interview. “It was like tick-tack-toe and all of a sudden, the puck was on my stick.”

Soon enough, the Sharks took another penalty, Ronnie Stern heading to the penalty box for charging. Teemu Selanne’s power-play goal gave the Ducks a 2-0 lead at 6:38.

The goal extended Selanne’s point streak to 13 games, the longest active streak in the NHL and four shy of his team record set last season.

The Ducks’ failure to stay out of trouble cost them as Owen Nolan cut the lead in half with a power-play goal on a slick cross-ice pass from Jeff Friesen at 15:33.

The Ducks killed all 1:30 of a five-on-three situation, but Jason Marshall wasn’t fast enough out of the penalty box to join the play and help stop Nolan.