Ducks Strong at Ends but Fall Apart in Middle

The Mighty Ducks dominated the third period again Saturday night. Teemu Selanne scored again and his goal-scoring slump appears to be history. Steve Rucchin played his first game since the onset of a staph infection in his left ankle Dec. 27.

There was a great deal to like about the Ducks’ performance in a 4-3 loss against the San Jose Sharks before a sellout of 17,483 at San Jose Arena.

But some of the old bugaboos cropped up, none worse then a needless interference penalty against Ruslan Salei that led to Marco Sturm’s winning goal midway through the final period.

Salei’s penalty was particularly tough for the Ducks to stomach since it came a mere 36 seconds after captain Paul Kariya tied the score, 3-3, with his second goal.

Rucchin assisted on the goal, a pretty tick-tack-toe play in which the puck touched the sticks of four of the five Duck skaters.

Defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky tipped the puck to Rucchin in the neutral zone. Rucchin hit a trailing Kariya as they moved into the attacking zone.

Kariya then hit Selanne. Selanne hit Kariya. Kariya hit the back of a wide-open net.

Kariya’s first goal, on a power play, trimmed the Ducks’ deficit to 3-2 at 7:36 of the third period. His fifth goal in three games got the Ducks even, but the tie didn’t last long.

“We’re finding too many ways to shoot ourselves in the foot,” Duck Coach Craig Hartsburg said. “I’m sick of hearing we are close, we’re on the right track. We’ve got to keep pushing to get more done here and that means cutting out stupid mistakes.”

Asked specifically about Salei’s penalty, Hartsburg said, “It was an undisciplined penalty. Dumb. There was no reason for that.”

The game started so well for the Ducks. Twenty seconds in and they had a 1-0 lead.

Selanne raced down the right wing and unleashed a blistering shot that knuckled past San Jose goalie Steve Shields for the third-fastest goal in Duck history.

Only Kariya, at eight seconds, and Rucchin, at 16 seconds, have scored faster for the Ducks from the opening faceoff.

It was Selanne’s second goal in as many games, another sign he is emerging from his post-Christmas slump. He had the tying goal in Friday’s 3-3 tie against the Colorado Avalanche.

Of course, Selanne always seems to score against the Sharks. He has 32 goals and 65 points in 35 games against San Jose, more than any other opposing player.

“They’re flying around out there,” Duck winger Marty McInnis said of Kariya and Selanne. “There’s no one in this league that can keep up with them.”

The Ducks’ lead lasted until well in the second period. But a couple of fortunate bounces and a turnover enabled San Jose to rally for a 3-1 lead.

First, Stephane Matteau banged home a rebound after Tony Granato’s rebound of a Brad Stuart shot was kept out of the net by defenseman Jason Marshall, who backed up goalie Guy Hebert.

Granato wiped out Hebert on the play, but no penalty was called. The play was reviewed by the video replay official, but it was difficult to determine why.

TV replays available to reporters in the press box clearly showed Marshall saving the puck, but putting it on the stick of Matteau, who put it in the back of the net at 9:12.

Next, Patrick Marleau split two Ducks while San Jose was on a power play. Hebert swatted Marleau’s weak dribbler aside, but Sturm spotted the rebound for a 2-1 Shark lead at 13:44.

Finally, after center Antti Aalto’s turnover in his end, the Sharks pounced again. Granato’s quick shot through the screen of Salei gave San Jose a 3-1 lead at 18:49.

Make no mistake about it. Luck had very little to do with the Sharks’ lead. They worked over the Ducks after a sluggish first period.

San Jose outhustled the Ducks in the pivotal second period.

Fatigue seemed to slow the Ducks, too. Saturday’s game was their third in four nights and was the last in a seven-games-in-11-nights stretch.