Hebert Looks at Home Again

There wasn’t much riding on Guy Hebert’s performance Sunday at the Arrowhead Pond. Nothing except maybe the Mighty Ducks’ playoff hopes and his future as their No. 1 goaltender, that is.

Hebert insisted he wasn’t nervous before his first start in more than a week. He would allow that he thought about the game a good deal Sunday morning and afternoon. “I was heavily motivated,” he said with a laugh after making 25 saves in the Ducks’ 3-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers before an announced sellout crowd of 17,174.

After two games on the bench and eight days of remedial work with goalie consultant Francois Allaire, Hebert seemed like a new man. He was sharper and more poised in his first start since a 4-4 tie Feb. 18 against San Jose.

“I tried to put my eyes on the puck and my body in front it,” Hebert said. “I wasn’t going to be flashy or anything.”

The victory moved the 10th-place Ducks within four points of San Jose and Colorado--the teams that occupy the seventh and eighth positions--in the battle for the final Western Conference playoff spots.

The Ducks seemed determined to make it an easy night for Hebert, scoring three times in the first period. But big edges have been nothing big for the Ducks lately.

Soon enough, the lead was down to 3-2 entering the final period. Instead of squandering a lead of two goals or more for the fifth time in seven games, the Ducks suffocated the Oilers in the third period.

Hebert didn’t have much work in the third period but made a sliding save on Todd Marchant on a two-on-one short-handed break for the Oilers in the second.

“I watched the video of their game against Boston [Wednesday] and saw how they worked the puck on a two-on-one,” Hebert said. “I read the pass [from Mike Grier to Marchant] and crossed over [to the right post] as quickly as I could. It was probably a save I haven’t been coming up with recently.”

With 1:03 left in the game, a tricky shot from Ethan Moreau glanced off Hebert’s left shoulder. But Ryan Smyth couldn’t get to the rebound and Hebert smothered the puck. The Oilers pulled goalie Tommy Salo in favor of a sixth skater, but failed to put a shot on net in the final minute. They also had but one shot during a third-period power-play.

“It was like playoff hockey for us,” defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky said. “We made some mistakes, but we got the win. Guy was unbelievable for us. We put a lot of pressure on their guys and didn’t give them space in the neutral zone.”

The Ducks forced the Oilers to dump the puck and chase after it, which is not their preferred method of operation. The Oilers would rather build their attack with speed through the neutral zone, creating open ice and coverage problems for opponents.

Meanwhile, the Ducks built an early lead on first-period goals by Marty McInnis, Fredrik Olausson and Kevin Haller. Nine seconds after Haller’s wrist shot from the left point at 19:07 hit the back of the net, Moreau scored for the Oilers.

“We had a great start, but I felt terrible about their first goal,” Hebert said. “I gave up a rebound and couldn’t do anything about it.”

It was hardly Hebert’s fault that the Ducks stood flat-footed while Marchant raced ahead after winning the faceoff following Haller’s goal. “He’s back,” Teemu Selanne said of Hebert. “You could tell how focused he was to stop the puck. Everybody goes through tough times. Forwards can make mistakes and nobody notices. Every time goalies make a mistake it ends up on the scoreboard.”