Scott Niedermayer’s goal gives Ducks overtime victory
It appeared the Ducks’ losing habits caught up to them.
They stormed out to a three-goal lead over Tampa Bay seven minutes into the second period, but then allowed the Lightning to force overtime. Defenseman Scott Niedermayer made sure this game wouldn’t end in a losing effort, though. He scored 52 seconds into overtime, giving the Ducks a 4-3 victory over Tampa Bay on Thursday before an announced crowd of 14,555 at the Honda Center.
“We stuck with it and kept working and we got our reward,” Niedermayer said. “In the past, this kind of went against us. If we keep doing it, eventually it’ll go our way.”
The Ducks began their seven-game homestand with different results than in last week’s 0-3-1 road performance. After entering Thursday’s game having lost 10 of their last 13 games, the Ducks improved to 7-10-3 and moved out of last place in the Western Conference.
No matter how close it appeared the Ducks would lose another game, the team was just happy enough to get the two points.
“Nobody’s asking us how we won tomorrow,” said goaltender Jonas Hiller, who stopped 21 of 24 shots. “You take those two points and keep building on that confidence.”
The Ducks scored two first-period goals, followed by a Bobby Ryan power-play goal at 6:52 in the second period that gave them a 3-0 cushion.
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