Sunday, Feb. 11 8:00pm ET
Mighty Ducks score in third, tie 'Canes
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ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) – Mike Leclerc's game-tying goal and hard
work around the net underscored how much the Anaheim Mighty Ducks
missed him while he was injured.
Leclerc scored with 8:26 left in the third period as the Ducks
earned a 2-2 tie with the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday night.
The goal was Leclerc's 13th of the season, and first in three
games after missing the previous 15 because of torn cartilage in
his right knee.
"It was really frustrating, especially because the team wasn't
doing well," Leclerc said. "You see the players after the game
and at practice, and nobody's happy. It was a really bad
environment, and I almost felt guilty that I couldn't be here to
help the team."
Teemu Selanne also scored for the Ducks, who remained winless at
home in 10 games (0-8-2) despite ending a club-record eight-game
home losing streak. Backup goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 27
saves, including one on Ron Francis from point-blank range with 45
seconds left in overtime.
Carolina's Rob DiMaio tied it 1-1 with a short-handed goal, and
teammate Rod Brind'Amour scored on a power play. But the Hurricanes
gained only one point on the idle Boston Bruins, who lead them by
two in the race for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot.
"These are the games you need to win," goalie Arturs Irbe
said. "Points like the one we lost today might be the difference
at the end of the season. I'm not pleased about the outcome. We let
the lead slip away. That's not us, and that's not me. It feels like
a loss."
The Ducks, who avoided the penalty box during the first two
periods, got their first two penalties 50 seconds apart as Matt
Cullen was called for holding a stick and Pavel Trnka joined him
at 2:58 of the third after a boarding call.
The Hurricanes, who have the NHL's third-best power-play
percentage, capitalized just 15 seconds into the ensuing 5-on-3
advantage as Brind'Amour scored his 12th goal from in front of the
crease to give Carolina a 2-1 lead.
But Anaheim pulled even, as Leclerc redirected Cullen's shot
from the right circle between Irbe's glove and the right post while
Carolina defenseman David Tanabe was pushing the Anaheim left wing
away from the crease.
"The coaches are stressing a lot for the guys to go to the net,
and it's obviously where a lot of goals are scored," Leclerc said.
"It's tough to go to the net and not have somebody on you, but you
have to pay the price."
The Hurricanes, who did not allow the Los Angeles Kings a shot
on net in the third period of Thursday night's 4-2 loss, fell
behind just 37 seconds after the opening faceoff on the Ducks'
first shot. Selanne, who had five of Anaheim's 14 shots in the
opening period, converted Tony Hrkac's centering feed past Arturs
Irbe for his 21st goal.
Carolina tied it at 17:43 of the second, recording its fifth
short-handed goal while killing off a five-minute boarding penalty
David Karpa received for his hit on German Titov behind the
Carolina net. Titov left with a bruised right shoulder.
Giguere, getting more playing time because of Guy Hebert's
0-10-2 slump, went behind his net to play the puck and blindly
backhanded it off the left skate of teammate Paul Kariya. It
caromed right in front to DiMaio, who scored his sixth goal into a
wide-open net.
"I wasn't expecting him to do that with the puck. I just
thought he was going to leave it there," Kariya said. "It was an
unlucky break for us."
Game notes
Carolina left wing Martin Gelinas was scratched for the
first time this season, after leaving Thursday night's game with a
mild concussion, an injured knee, a laceration above his right eye
and a chipped tooth _ all in a collision with teammate Shane
Willis. ... The Ducks have surrendered at least one power-play goal
in nine consecutive games. The club record is 11 straight, during
the end of the 1997-98 season.
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New Jersey 1
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Minnesota 4
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Montreal 4
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Dallas 3
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