Ducks Suffer Another Hard-Fought Defeat

Scott Mellanby was looking for a “soft spot” and he found it near the net.

Mellanby scored late in the third period, lifting the St. Louis Blues to a 3-2 victory Friday night over the Mighty Ducks.

He scored the game-winning goal at 12:28, taking a pass in the right circle from Pavol Demitra and lifting a shot over the glove hand of Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

“It was a great forecheck by [Keith] Tkachuk and Demitra, they were both behind the net,” Mellanby said. “I was just trying to find a bit of a soft spot. I usually go to the top of the crease and just kind of slosh and stuff. I tried to pull out a bit and find an area. Pavol made a great pass.”

Anaheim’s Mike Leclerc tied it, 2-2, at 6:11 of the third period, scoring off an assist from German Titov. It was Leclerc’s 19th goal.

“It was a physical game,” Duck Coach Bryan Murray said. “We had a couple of chances after we tied it, but we don’t score enough to keep anyone on their heels.”

Trailing 2-0, the Ducks scored their first goal at 13:16 of the second period when Paul Kariya scored his 30th.

“We had it looking like we were on our way to a solid win there when it was 2-0,” St. Louis Coach Joel Quenneville said. “Then all of a sudden, we were in a ballgame. I mean, that was a tough game. It was a man’s game tonight. There wasn’t a lot of room out there. We had to fight for everything. Obviously, that was a big goal at the end there.”

After a scoreless first period, the Blues broke out to their 2-0 lead.

Tkachuk scored his 30th goal only 17 seconds into the second period for his first goal in four games since returning from an injury that sidelined him for eight games after the Olympic break.

Al MacInnis scored from the right circle at 10:17 to make it 2-0. It was MacInnis’ first goal since Jan. 17, a span of 20 games.