All of a Sudden, Ducks Wake Up to Salvage Tie

They all but put one puck in their own net, butchered a five-minute power play and gave up another goal while short-handed two players to cap an excruciating stretch of brutal hockey Sunday.

For the Mighty Ducks, it certainly looked like one more in an ever-growing series of miserable nights this season at the Arrowhead Pond.

But a funny thing happened en route to the inevitable loss. The Ducks actually rallied to tie the Carolina Hurricanes, 2-2, before an announced crowd of 12,630 surprisingly cheerful patrons.

Left wing Mike Leclerc’s deflection of center Matt Cullen’s flip toward the Carolina net from the right wing somehow trickled between goalie Arturs Irbe’s legs for the tying goal with 8:26 left in the third period.

“I couldn’t believe it went in,” Leclerc said after scoring his first goal in three games since returning from a six-week layoff because of damaged knee cartilage. “I didn’t get much on it. It probably surprised Irbe more than me that it went in.”

Leclerc’s changeup was just the break the Ducks needed to end their Pond losing streak at eight games. Still, they are 0-8-2 since a 3-2 overtime victory Jan. 3 against the Florida Panthers.

Ahead by a goal, thanks to Teemu Selanne’s team-leading 21st a mere 37 seconds into the game, the Ducks seemed poised to take command late in the second period. Carolina defenseman Dave Karpa, a former Duck, was given a five-minute boarding major for cracking center German Titov into the glass from behind.

The Ducks’ shoddy power play ended up letting Carolina back into the game, however.

In a play that only could have been produced by the 2000-01 Ducks, Carolina’s Rob DiMaio scored the tying goal into an empty net with 2:17 left in the second period.

Duck goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere had gone behind his net to retrieve a rolling puck. Instead of stopping it and leaving it there for left wing Paul Kariya to play, Giguere sent a point-blank no-look pass off Kariya’s left boot. The puck rolled to DiMaio, who was trailing the play, and he deposited it into the open net from near the right goal post.

Groan.

“I called out ‘Jiggy’s’ name,” Kariya later explained to reporters. “I thought he was going to leave the puck behind the net. He passed it instead. It bounced off my foot and right to [DiMaio]. I probably shouldn’t have said anything.”

Matters would get worse before they got better for the Ducks, who managed only three long-distance shots on Irbe during the five-minute power play.

First, Cullen was whistled for holding Karpa’s stick 2:08 into the third period, although TV replays indicated nothing of the sort happened as the two fought for control of a loose puck along the boards.

Next, at the 2:58 mark, defenseman Pavel Trnka was penalized for boarding Carolina’s Rod Brind’Amour, although replays showed the hit was rather tame.

Skating five on three, Carolina quickly capitalized when Brind’Amour popped a rebound over Giguere’s right shoulder for a 2-1 Hurricane lead at 3:13. Giguere would make 27 saves in his third consecutive strong showing in net.

But the shocking thing was that the Ducks didn’t fold their tents and accept defeat. They tried a novel approach, turning up their intensity several notches and producing a lunch-pail goal by one of their few blue-collar players.

“Leclerc gives us a lot of grit and a presence out there we didn’t have when he was out,” Kariya said. “[Steve] Rucchin does that too. We miss two big guys when they’re not out there.”

To be sure, a large chunk of the Ducks’ troubles can be attributed to injuries, but there was hope Sunday.

“It’s nice to have him back,” defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky said of Leclerc, who has career bests of 13 goals and 31 points in 43 games. “He drives hard to the net and goes after rebounds. That was missing from our game most of the nights he was out.”