Ducks Trip at Finish

A faint tremor turned into a steady rumble and finally a thunderous roar as a victory slipped through the Mighty Ducks’ quaking hands in the third period Friday night.

By game’s end, the Ducks probably were fortunate to leave HSBC Arena with a 2-2 tie instead of a loss to the hard-charging Buffalo Sabres. The Ducks built a two-goal lead midway through the second period, but put their game on cruise control and paid a hefty price.

“It was pretty much only a matter of time,” said center Steve Rucchin, who returned to the lineup after missing four weeks because of a broken left hand. “We sat back too much. Give Buffalo a lot of credit, they came out hard in the third period.”

The Ducks seemed to be sleepskating in the final 20 minutes of regulation. Ahead, 2-1, the Ducks abandoned their aggressive forecheck style in favor of a passive defensive posture. They didn’t have a shot on net for the first half of the third and were outshot, 10-2, in the period.

The Sabres, losers of three in a row going into Friday, came at the Ducks, winners of two in a row, in waves. The Sabres generated plenty of scoring chances, but had nothing to show for their relentless pressure until Chris Gratton shoveled a centering pass from Doug Gilmour behind Dominic Roussel with 7.2 seconds left in the third period.

Rucchin’s injury played a significant role in the final, frantic moments. To protect his injured hand, Rucchin took very few faceoffs and none in the third period.

After Roussel fell on Jean-Pierre Dumont’s backhander off the right goal post with about 18 seconds left, Marty McInnis lost the ensuing draw and the Sabres kept the pressure on the Ducks.

Finally, Gilmour passed the puck out front from behind the goal line and Gratton swatted it home to send the game into overtime.

“I was looking at the puck,” Roussel said. “The guy flipped it at my feet and somebody standing there poked it in. I was looking at my feet and couldn’t see who was coming. I think it was a good play by them.”

Neither team scored in the five-minute extra period--although each had a chance on the power-play--and they each earned a point.

Friday’s tie gave the Ducks a 3-2-1-1 record for eight points, a franchise best after seven games. The Ducks have had seven points after seven games each of the last two seasons.

It was merely a consolation prize for the Ducks.

“I think what happened was after we got the lead we stopped forechecking,” said Roussel, who stopped 34 shots and stayed unbeaten at 1-0-1 in two starts. “Slowly, they took control of the game. If we kept forechecking, I think we could have won.”

Although they led, 2-0, thanks to blistering slap shots by Paul Kariya and Tony Hrkac, the Ducks never appeared to have much command over the Sabres. Buffalo controlled play for long stretches, outshooting the Ducks, 24-15, after two periods.

Plus, the Ducks’ two-goal lead lasted only 1:09 before Buffalo’s Erik Rasmussen skated away from the flatfooted Ducks, moving from the right faceoff circle into the high slot to score his first goal of the season and cut the advantage in half.

Kariya had blasted the Ducks into the lead, sending a missile from the top of the left circle over Dominik Hasek’s left shoulder 3:46 into the game. Defenseman Rhett Warrener stumbled while going after a loose puck at center ice. Kariya pounced on it and moved in on Hasek to score his second of the season.

Later, Hrkac twirled away from a pair of Sabres at the blue line and zoomed in alone on Hasek, who had no chance to stop a point-blank slapper that skimmed under the crossbar 10:44 into the second period.

The Ducks went into a defensive shell soon after and the Sabres seemed to be skating downhill for the rest of the game.

“It definitely wasn’t part of our strategy,” said Kariya, who has two goals and five points in his last three games. “We got caught in a lull there and couldn’t get out of it. With a 2-1 lead you want to make smart plays, but you still have to make some plays.

“Any time you give away a game like that there’s frustration.”