Rangers Crowd Out Ducks

Leave it to the underachieving New York Rangers to spoil the Mighty Ducks’ love fest at the Arrowhead Pond.

Pavel Bure and Bobby Holik each scored twice for the Rangers, who kept their slim playoff hopes alive with a 6-2 victory over the Ducks Friday in front of an announced crowd of 17,174 -- Anaheim’s fourth sellout of the season.

For the Ducks, who lost for only the sixth time in 20 games, it just wasn’t their night.

“It’s tough for us because we’ve played so well at home and then we get a big crowd and don’t respond,” Coach Mike Babcock said about the Ducks, who dropped to 16-8-6-1 at the Pond. “You want these people to come back. It’s really disappointing. It’s tough for the sales guys who work real hard to get people into the building.”

Starting with goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who gave up a season-high six goals, the Ducks seemed to be a little out of sync all game. Giguere, tied for the NHL lead with seven shutouts, struggled on many of the Rangers’ shots and even knocked one into the net himself.

“He’s been phenomenal for us all season,” Babcock said about Giguere, who entered with a 2.33 goals-against average. “Tonight he didn’t have the kind of night we wanted him to have.”

Whereas Giguere struggled, his New York counterpart, Mike Dunham, did not. In finishing with 32 saves, Dunham was impressive as he came up with one key stop after another.

Anaheim outshot the Rangers, 34-31.

The Ducks’ top line of Paul Kariya, Petr Sykora and Adam Oates did not come up with a point for the second time in 17 games.

“It’s a lot closer after the game than it was before the game,” New York Coach Glen Sather said. “I was happy with the whole team tonight.”

Although the Ducks still have plenty to play for, the Rangers skated with more urgency most of the night. Loose pucks that ended up on the sticks of Duck players in recent weeks found their way to the Rangers, and that’s how they were able to rally from a first-period one-goal deficit.

After Anaheim scored to take a 1-0 lead on Samuel Pahlsson’s first goal of the season with 1:49 remaining in the opening period, New York responded with consecutive goals wrapped around the end of the first period and the start of the second.

Mathew Barnaby tied the score, 1-1, when he gathered in a deflected pass from Eric Lindros and knocked in a goal 24 seconds after Pahlsson’s score. Then 89 seconds into the second period, Bure had a rebound come directly to him in the left circle and scored easily to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead.

Anaheim tied the score, 2-2, early in the third when Steve Rucchin blasted home a shot from the right circle 49 seconds into the period. But it was all Rangers after that.

Bure scored his second goal of the game on a New York power play at 2:39 to give the Rangers a 3-2 lead. Holik followed with consecutive goals at 4:09 and 10:03, which all but sealed the Ducks’ fate.

New York finished scoring when Alex Kovalev got a goal at 16:58 to put the Rangers ahead, 6-2.

“We just didn’t play well tonight,” Anaheim forward Patric Kjellberg said. “It’s never just one guy. This is a team thing, and we just didn’t get it done.”