Ducks Get a Late Win

Predictability, thy name is hockey.

The information that former Mighty Duck Paul Kariya of the Colorado Avalanche would be out indefinitely because of a sprained right wrist was flashed on the scoreboard early in the second period Wednesday night at the Arrowhead Pond.

There was cheering. Well, can’t blame Philadelphia Flyer fans for that one.

Predictable hockey situation, No. 2. Guess what happened almost immediately after the Ducks took a two-goal lead in the first period against Philadelphia? In the time-honored tradition of the sport, a fight broke out about 15 seconds after the second goal, by Vaclav Prospal, off a defensive blunder by defenseman Jim Vandermeer.

Maybe a little certainty, a little familiarity was welcome in what has been a wildly unpredictable opening seven games for the Ducks. Finally, some semblance of order has been restored in the last 48 hours with the Ducks winning back-to-back games for the first time, the most recent being a 4-3 overtime victory against the Flyers before an announced crowd of 12,737 at the Pond.

But, of course, it took a crazy series of events to get back to normality. The Flyers, pressing for the tying goal, got it in the final frenzied moments as Tony Amonte’s shot bounced off Duck defenseman Kurt Sauer’s skate and went past Duck goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere with 0.6 seconds remaining.

The play was reviewed and the goal stood.

But the Ducks were hardly fazed, as Rob Niedermayer scored only 1:10 into the overtime for his third of the season. Center Steve Rucchin did the hard work, creating the opportunity by skating down the right wing, throwing the puck in front with a backhander to Niedermayer, who was driving to the net and managed to redirect it.

“That was something,” Niedermayer said. “We had the game in hand -- we were winning 3-2. It was tough to take, but we kept battling. He [Rucchin] just made a great pass.”

And so, breathing resumed in the Pond.

It had seemed as though right wing Petr Sykora’s goal at 11:01 of the second period had decided it. His goal came with the Ducks on the power play, converting Rucchin’s pass across the crease as he was camped at the post to the left of Flyer goalie Robert Esche. Sykora, who assisted on Sergei Fedorov’s goal, was active all game.

The Ducks’ victory, their first at home, featured other firsts:

* Fedorov’s first goal as a Duck. It may have taken seven games, but it came at 2:41 of the first period, as Fedorov took a return pass from defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh and put it into practically an open net with a shot from the slot.

“I was pretty happy about that,” he said. “I actually never thought it would be that exciting. It was a good play by Ozo. I had a wide-open net.”

* Giguere’s first victory. Who would have thought Martin Gerber would land in the win column before Giguere? Giguere got there by facing 35 shots. Before the last-second breakdown, Giguere had been flawless after giving up two goals in the first period.