Ducks Beat Sharks on Deflected Goal

Maybe the puck hit Rob Niedermayer and maybe it didn’t. Maybe the Mighty Duck forward’s stick was too high or maybe it really wasn’t.

The only thing Niedermayer cares about is that the puck found the net when the Ducks needed it, as his goal midway in the third period provided the difference in a 5-4 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Sunday night at the Arrowhead Pond.

Niedermayer’s goal at 9 minutes, 56 seconds of the third was the final score in a tense game between two playoff hopefuls. The veteran wing wrestled with San Jose defenseman Scott Hannan in front of goalie Evgeni Nabokov as Scott Niedermayer teed up a shot from the point.

“It was one of those ones where I’m just trying to get in front of the goalie and battle for good position,” Rob Niedermayer said.

The goal was under review for several minutes before it was ruled good, as it was determined that the puck had deflected off Hannan. Rob Niedermayer was credited with his sixth goal in his last 10 games.

“Our guys said it hit the shaft of his stick above the top of the net,” San Jose Coach Ron Wilson said. “We haven’t had much luck with replays, so what could you expect.”

The difference between exhilaration and frustration for the Ducks was a few inches.

What if Niedermayer’s game-winner was disallowed? What if Hannan’s quick wrist shot late in the third simply went inside the right post instead of clanking off it and sliding across the goal line behind Jean-Sebastien Giguere?

Those are questions the Ducks (15-13-6) won’t need to entertain.

They were merely happy with fighting off a San Jose team that had won six in a row since acquiring All-Star center Joe Thornton. Scott Niedermayer had a goal and an assist, Chris Kunitz had a shorthanded goal, and fourth-liner Todd Fedoruk got his first goal as a Duck to offset two goals by San Jose’s Grant Stevenson.

Coming off a disheartening 4-3 shootout loss to the Kings on Friday night, the Ducks managed to vault past the Phoenix Coyotes into third place in the Pacific Division.

“It was nice to finally win a game like that,” Scott Niedermayer said. “It seems we’ve been on the short end of a lot of games like that.”

The Mighty Ducks and Sharks (14-13-4) envisioned themselves as playoff teams when training camp broke in October, but both have endured long losing streaks in the first three months.

Now that both have pulled themselves back into postseason contention, the two points on the line Sunday became all the more important. The division rivals meet again Tuesday in San Jose.

*

It appears Duck General Manager Brian Burke will settle his defamation suit against New York Post writer Larry Brooks out of court.

Burke sued Brooks when the writer alleged in a column last February that the then-Vancouver general manager challenged Todd Bertuzzi and other Canuck players to go after Colorado Avalanche player Steve Moore during a game March 8, 2004, in retaliation for a hit Moore put on Markus Naslund.

Moore was left with three broken vertebrae after a blindside attack by Bertuzzi and has yet to play in a game since.

In Sunday’s editions of the Post, Brooks wrote that Burke “has since stated under oath that he never challenged Bertuzzi or any other Canuck player to get Moore. I fully accept Mr. Burke’s statement that he never issued any such challenge.”

Burke said the newspaper has agreed to pay his legal fees and will make a donation to a charity in Vancouver.

“That’s the end of it,” he said Sunday. “I’m not getting a dime out of it. I never wanted a dime out of it. It should have gone the way of a retraction when it first happened.”