Ducks Unhappy With Their Tie

Realistically, it was a loss dressed up and passed off as a tie.

If the Ducks are going to make a run at leapfrogging over several teams into a playoff spot, their 2-2 tie against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday was an exercise in how not to do so.

For starters, the way not to go was giving up the tying goal with 5:23 remaining in regulation against a road-challenged opponent playing its second game in two nights.

Columbus’ Rick Nash scored his league-leading 25th of the season to tie it, 2-2, converting a shot from the slot.

In overtime, the Ducks excited the crowd of 15,559 at the Arrowhead Pond with a surge of offense, spending most of the time on the power play when Blue Jacket forward David Vyborny received a double-major for high-sticking Duck defenseman Niclas Havelid.

The Ducks had 11 shots in overtime but the attack turned predictable with Sergei Fedorov stationed on the perimeter on the right wing and Havelid in the slot, with Fedorov firing countless shots at Columbus goalie Marc Denis from about the same spot. In all, Denis made 41 saves.

“Not happy with it, not at all,” said Duck defenseman Kurt Sauer about the tie. “It’s better than a loss. But at the same time, it’s just unacceptable.”

Duck Coach Mike Babcock sensed the mood of the team when he walked in the dressing room afterward, saying it felt like a loss. The Ducks have had plenty of ties of late and are winless in their last six, going 0-3-3.

“We don’t like ties at all,” defenseman Todd Simpson said. “We need wins. If we were in first place overall, maybe a tie could be all right. But we’re chasing a lot of teams. The only way you make up ground is to get wins.”

Simpson is suddenly Mr. Offense and is amused by it. The stay-at-home defenseman has scored goals in three straight games, the longest streak of his 505-game career. He had never scored more than two goals in a season. The first Duck goal came from another light-scoring defenseman, Vitaly Vishnevski, who had his second of the season, scoring on a backhander at 9:24 of the second period, making it 1-0.

Until Nash’s goal, it had appeared as though Simpson would have the game-winner. He scored at 7:44 of the third period to give the Ducks a 2-1 lead. Samuel Pahlsson’s attempted wraparound went off Duck rookie forward Joffrey Lupul and bounced back to Simpson who pounced on it from the edge of the right circle. Lupul assisted on both goals.

Simpson was asked if he was getting teased by his teammates.

“Lot of jealousy in the room,” he said, joking. “I feel a lot of envy coming my way.”

The Ducks had a major scare on a nasty-looking play in overtime. Blue Jacket forward Todd Marchant sent Duck winger Petr Sykora face first into the boards in front of the Duck bench. Sykora, however, came away intact and played later in overtime. There was no penalty called.

“Marchant never had any intention,” Babcock said. “But it sure looked like it was from behind and it sure looked dangerous. Marchant is not that type of player at all. It was ugly.”

Sykora was not as forgiving. “You have to [have] a little respect between each other out there,” Sykora said. “Maybe hit me, hit me [legally]. But if my health is on the line ... I would never do it to any other player. I’m happy the way it ended up. I’m happy I’m here.... That nothing serious happened.”

Was Sykora surprised there was no call? “I’m not surprised anymore about anything in this league,” he said.