Tampa Bay Defeats Ducks Before 9,579

Those who attended the Mighty Duck game Sunday sure could boo for such a small crowd.

The catcalls came loud and fast after the Ducks gave up the game-winning goal in a 3-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Arrowhead Pond. But those who remained of the announced 9,579--the smallest crowd in franchise history--left in silent indifference.

This loss was familiar for the Ducks, who have often played to their opponents’ level. Tampa Bay is not only one of the runts in the NHL, but was playing its second game in as many nights, having beaten the Kings, 1-0. The Lightning was a set-up as an opponent. The Ducks couldn’t deliver the blow.

Instead, they came out flat. The Lightning scored twice in the first period and the Ducks were backpedaling. They toppled when Dave Andreychuk redirected a Pavel Kubina shot past goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere, giving the Lightning a 3-2 lead with 3 minutes 2 seconds left.

The positive spin was the Ducks played well after the first period. They did have several chances in the third period, but Lightning goalie Nikolai Khabibulin kept the score tied with several saves. He stopped 33 of 35 shots.

But the positives didn’t last long in the postgame post-mortem.

“We were brutal in the first period,” captain Paul Kariya said. “A lot of guys were asleep and needed a wake-up call.”

Coincidently, the Duck marketing slogan is “Answer The Call.” It seemed “Leave A Wake-Up Call” was more appropriate Sunday.

Fans, though, long ago caught on to the fact that Duck slogans and Duck actions are not the same. Press box estimates had the crowd between 5,000 and 6,000.

Kariya said that the 16,219 who attended Friday’s home opener energized the team. But Sunday, he said a two-thirds empty house wasn’t the problem.

“You can’t look at the crowd to dictate how you are going to play,” Kariya said. “We are professional athletes. Regardless of what kind of crowd we have, we have to perform.”

That they have only 10 goals in six games this season doesn’t fall in the “perform” category.

“We have to find ways to score goals,” Duck Coach Bryan Murray said.

The Lightning did late in the third period, but only after Keith Carney and Niclas Havelid were both called for high sticking, giving the Lightning a five-on-three advantage for 42 seconds.

The Ducks killed one penalty. But when Giguere chipped the puck into the corner instead of trying to clear it along the boards, they were in trouble.

Brad Richards ended up with the puck near the blue line and fed it to Kubina, whose shot from the left face-off circle ticked off Andreychuk’s stick.

It was Andreychuk’s 573th career goal, tying him with Mike Bossy for 14th on the all-time list.

Things never should have reached that point, Duck players and coaches admitted.

“Offensively, we let the game sit there,” Murray said. “When you only score two goals in your own building, the game is there to be taken.”

Sure. By Detroit. By St. Louis. By Colorado. But by Tampa Bay?

The Lightning was one of three teams that had fewer points than the Ducks last season. Tampa Bay looked like the rested team in the first period. Vincent Lecavalier scored on a power play, his first goal since ending his holdout last week. It ended a streak of 19 consecutive penalty kills by the Ducks and gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead 5:04 into the game.

The Ducks’ Mike Leclerc tipped in a shot, tying the score 34 seconds later.

Ben Clymer then buried a shot on a rush, putting the Lightning ahead 12:13 into the period. Oleg Tverdovsky tied the score again, slipping into the slot on a power play and whipping a shot past Khabibulin.

“I don’t think Tampa played great, but they stayed in the game,” Tverdovsky said.