Ducks Don’t Repeat Mistake of Last Week

Mike Leclerc’s smirk made everything clear. He glided behind the net, grinning like a kid who had avoided being busted for missing curfew.

Moments before, he had tried to pass and instead scored, sending the Mighty Ducks on their way to a 3-1 victory over Vancouver Sunday night. Sometimes, you need to catch a break.

The Ducks handled a Canuck team that was playing its second game in as many nights. An opportunity they couldn’t let slip away, as they did a week ago when they lost to Tampa Bay in a similar situation. Sometimes, however, the Ducks take advantage of a scheduling break.

Leclerc, Ruslan Salei and Marty McInnis scored goals, all of them on the ugly side. Samuel Pahlsson had his first multi-point game. The Ducks smothered the Canucks with defense in the third period to protect a 3-1 lead, and had goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere around for the few moments they teetered.

That the Ducks did that before an announced crowd of 10,435 at the Arrowhead Pond--which seemed about 4,000 higher than the number of fans actually in the building--didn’t matter. The Ducks’ glass was half full, even if the arena wasn’t.

“This was a must-win game for us,” Paul Kariya said. “We did a much better job on defense. We scored some goals, which is nice. We stayed aggressive.

“We have been sitting here with two days off, rested. We had to win this one. We should have buried Tampa Bay in the first period last week.”

The Ducks didn’t exactly bury the Canucks in the first period, but they shoveled enough dirt on them throughout to keep from going four games under .500.

“They weren’t as fresh as they usually are,” Leclerc said. “When you play two games in two nights, you always seem a step behind. You have to take advantage of these games.”

This was only the second time the Ducks have scored more than two goals in a game in nine games this season. In a 4-2 victory over Pittsburgh, they needed goalie Steve Shields to make highlight-reel saves to hold on. This time, the Ducks protected the lead like a team that has had one before.

The Canucks didn’t get many quality chances, and Giguere was ready.

A turnover by Duck defenseman Keith Carney left Vancouver’s Donald Brashear and Daniel Sedin alone in front of Giguere with the puck. Brashear passed to Sedin, but Giguere managed to get a pad on the shot to keep the score tied, 1-1, in the first period.

The Ducks killed two penalties in the third period, behind the efforts of Dan Bylsma, who blocked four shots. Giguere made one key save on a power play, denying Markus Naslund, and, with 10 seconds left, Naslund hit the post.

“Every game we have had lately has been tied, either in the third period or midway through the second period,” Duck Coach Bryan Murray said. “We have been right in the game every time. If you don’t get rewarded, it’s hard to build the confidence you need.”

The Ducks were rewarded, even if a couple of kind deflections helped.

The score was tied, 1-1, when Leclerc burst into the Vancouver zone on a two-on-one. He tried to slip a pass to Matt Cullen, but the puck glanced off the stick of Canuck defenseman Brent Sopel and went past a stunned Dan Cloutier in goal, giving the Ducks the lead 16 minutes 45 seconds into the second period.

“What do you think?” a still smiling Leclerc said when asked if it was a pass. “I couldn’t decide whether to shoot straight at the net or shoot it off his [stick] blade.”

Leclerc’s grin to Cullen when he skated behind the net said it all.

“Something like that is how you get out of a slump,” Leclerc said. “I was just happy because it was about time we got one.”