Ducks Get Some Unlikely Help in Overtime Victory

Mighty Duck Coach Bryan Murray has been preaching and almost begging for someone to step up and ease the offensive load from the team’s usual goal-scoring suspects.

But Dan Bylsma?

And Marc Chouinard?

This had to be beyond Murray’s hopes.

Certainly the Ducks’ fourth line was anything but a chorus line in a 3-2 overtime victory over Phoenix Wednesday in front of 9,885 at the America West Arena, the smallest crowd in Coyote history.

Mike Leclerc gave the Ducks the victory 1:49 into overtime. Matt Cullen picked up a loose puck in front of the Coyote net and slipped a pass to Leclerc, who had an open net to shoot at.

“Any time you get an overtime win on the road, that means a lot of players were involved,” Murray said.

Certainly Leclerc was, as he got his first career overtime goal. And goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere stopped 24 of 26 shots.

Giguere came up big in overtime, when Phoenix’s Daniel Briere slipped loose and redirected a shot in front of the net. Giguere managed to get his glove on it.

“That was a dangerous situation,” Giguere said. “I reacted and got lucky.”

But the big contributors were Bylsma and Chouinard. Bylsma’s goal gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead in the first period and Chouinard tied the score, 2-2, in the second period.

“I think I’m going to go in and ask for a raise,” said Bylsma, who had 11 goals in his five previous NHL seasons.

Chouinard, Bylsma and Denny Lambert were active and physical, duties they normally perform on the fourth line. But they chipped in two goals, as well.

“Sometimes you work hard and it doesn’t go your way,” Chouinard said. “Some times you get rewarded.”

His line offset another difficult night for the Ducks’ top line, Paul Kariya, Steve Rucchin and Jeff Friesen.

That trio had 12 shots but no goals. Kariya had six shots, but was held without a goal for the ninth consecutive game, the second longest drought of his career.

But in this game, the Kariya-Rucchin-Friesen group needed only to check well. The Ducks’ fourth line was available, getting two goals past Phoenix goalie Sean Burke, who stopped 31 of 34 shots..

“Right off we had the hop,” said Chouinard, who had three goals as a rookie last season. “We felt like we were going to have a big night. It felt good to contribute.”

Bylsma struck first, with the Ducks skating four-on-four.

Matt Cullen tipped a puck away from defenseman Teppo Numminen, creating a two-on-one break. Cullen slipped a pass to Bylsma, who snapped a shot past Burke for a 1-0 lead at 11:25 of the first period.

Bylsma ended a 39-game goal-less streak His only goal last season came on Jan. 17 against Atlanta.

“I think we contribute in different areas,” Bylsma said. “We force turnovers, get some hits in. Tonight we also chipped in a couple goals.”

The Ducks, though, let the lead slip away when their special teams had a couple non-special moments.

First the penalty-killing unit got caught out of position. Briere not only was able to pick up a rebound in front of the net, he was allowed time to line up a shot that beat Giguere to tie the score 38 seconds into the period.