Ducks don’t see it coming

The Ducks had three defenders back on the overtime goal that ended their road winning streak at five games. One too many, as it turned out.

Lee Stempniak beat the odds when he broke in alone against the trio, scoring an unassisted goal with 2:21 left in the extra period to give the Blues a 3-2 victory Friday night. Goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere didn’t have a good look at Stempniak’s shot to the short side, not with 6-foot-6, 214-pound defenseman Chris Pronger in the way.

“I think Pronger was coming off the bench and caught a little bit flat-footed,” Stempniak said. “So I just tried to use him as a screen. It was a great win.”

Giguere praised Stempniak for turning the Ducks’ numbers against them. The winner, a shot from the left circle, deflected off the goalie’s stick.

“I think he used Prongs in a very effective way,” Giguere said. “You know, I would still like to see that shot again. But you can’t go back.”

The Ducks appeared to have momentum after Scott Niedermayer capitalized on a wild scramble at the end of regulation, scoring his third goal of the season with only 0.9 of a second remaining. The puck slid between Manny Legace’s pads after the Ducks’ Corey Perry, perhaps pushed by a Blues player, fell backward over the goalie.

“I was just fishing for the puck,” Niedermayer said. “It just happened to come to my stick.”

Chris Kunitz also scored for the Ducks, who fell two wins shy of the franchise record for consecutive road victories. The Ducks have lost five of six.

“We feel we’re a better team than we’ve shown in a number of games this year,” Niedermayer said.