Pahlsson Helps Ducks Make a Clean Break

A little extra effort by Samuel Pahlsson -- something the Mighty Ducks have lacked much of this season -- will make the next few days off quite pleasant for his teammates.

Pahlsson would not be denied. Not by Carolina goaltender Kevin Weekes. Not by Hurricane defenseman Sean Hill. Pahlsson persevered and batted a rebound off his own shot to score late in the third period and send the Ducks into the All-Star break with a 3-2 victory Wednesday.

An announced 12,339 at the Arrowhead Pond was treated to a matchup between the last two Stanley Cup runners-up, a chance to view how the one-time mighty have fallen.

But no one on the Ducks is ready to cry uncle coming out of the break.

“I want to see us make the playoffs, have a run and get in,” Duck Coach Mike Babcock said.

A lofty goal at this point considering the Ducks are 13th in the Western Conference, 11 points out of a playoff spot. But there are secondary objectives.

“The bottom line is the consistency and the work ethic,” Babcock said.

Pahlsson, one of the few consistent Ducks this season, provided that Wednesday, especially on his game-winning goal.

“He [Hill] had me pretty good around the neck, but I saw the puck go in,” Pahlsson said. “That’s OK. He can do that all he wants as long as I get the goal.”

Pahlsson’s effort was part of a solid night by the Ducks’ blue-collar players. Defenseman Vitaly Vishnevski had a goal and an assist. Jason Krog, the Ducks’ fourth-line center, had two assists.

The Ducks had a 43-24 edge in shots. That allowed them to go into the break harboring hopes.

“Until you’re eliminated, why would you give up on anything?” Babcock said. “The other thing, it’s amazing when your a team that has had success, sometimes you can find it back in a hurry, if you ever get on little bit of a roll and feel good about yourself.”

That’s at ice level. Upstairs, General Manager Bryan Murray seems to be making moves of an also-ran -- recalling young players from the minors and trading veteran defenseman Todd Simpson on Wednesday.

The Ducks would certainly have to make a dramatic turnaround to get into the playoffs. “We can’t really think about the playoffs right now,” captain Steve Rucchin said. “But this gets us into the break feeling better. Guys can focus on this break and maybe we can get things snowballing for us.”

The Ducks worked hard against the Hurricanes and had a 27-13 edge in shots through two periods. Yet all that got them was a 2-2 tie.

Josef Vasicek, parked by the right post, had Hill’s blue-line shot go off his leg and into the net, giving the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead 4:10 into the game.

The Ducks got even in the second period on a tic-tac-toe play, Sergei Fedorov to Petr Sykora to Vaclav Prospal, during a two-man advantage. Prospal chipped in Sykora’s cross-ice pass at 2:55 for his ninth goal in the last nine games.

“We have generated more offense lately,” Babcock said. “Anytime Fedorov is scoring and Prospal is scoring and Sykora is scoring, those are the people on this team you expect to score.”

The tie lasted a minute. With Carolina still short-handed, Rod Brind’Amour brought the puck into the Duck zone and fed Erik Cole, who fired a shot into the left-hand corner of the net for a 2-1 lead.

Vishnevski tied the score, 2-2, one-timing Krog’s pass from behind the net. It was Vishnevski’s fourth goal of the season, matching his career total.