Mighty Ducks Unearth Another Victory

The Mighty Ducks know plenty about digging holes. Now they’re learning how to dig out.

It will be a good-sized job after their 1-9-2 October. But after beating Edmonton, 4-2, with a third-period comeback in front of 16,735 at the Pond on Sunday, the Ducks have won four of their last five games and have lost only once in their last six.

“We’re on a little bit of a roll right now, but it needs to be the tip of the iceberg,” said Kevin Todd, who deflected Brian Bellows’ shot in front of the net to score the go-ahead goal with less than three minutes to play.

Paul Kariya added an empty-net goal with 1:02 left, his second goal of the game and the Ducks’ third of the period.

With nine goals already despite missing half of the Ducks’ games because of injuries, it’s conceivable Kariya will score 40 or even 50 goals despite a 13-game handicap. One thing is certain: His value to his team can’t be disputed. With Kariya, the Ducks are 7-4-2. Without him . . . it was ugly.

“We were on such roll going the opposite way, we’ve go to get on a big roll now just to get back to Square One,” Todd said. “But there’s three-quarters of the season left.”

Edmonton led, 2-1, after two periods. The Oilers had won all 11 games they led going into the third this season. The Ducks’ record trailing after two periods was 1-11-2.

“It’s a known fact that if you’re trailing going into the third period, chances are you aren’t going to come back,” Todd said. “I think the team that’s ahead wins 80%, 90% of the time. You want to go into the third leading or tied. If you’re behind, you’ve just got to play like it’s any other period and try to tie it up.”

Duck Coach Ron Wilson gave his team a talking to before the third.

“I didn’t think we were getting a lot out of everybody,” Wilson said. “Five or six guys were going all out, but a lot weren’t quite getting the job done. The third period, we came out with a lot more energy and drive and took the game to them instead of waiting for a mistake.

“We just persevered. We’ve faced a little adversity here. At some point, we’ve got to break through.”

Joe Sacco scored the tying goal 2:40 into the third period with a sharply angled shot from low in the left circle that beat Curtis Joseph to the far side of the net.

Then, as overtime began to loom, Bellows threw a shot toward the net. Todd deflected it in at 17:09, erasing a gaffe by Bellows earlier in the game. The Oilers’ first goal came when Mariusz Czerkawski broke a scoreless tie 4:18 into the second period off a giveaway by Bellows.

“Kevin just made a nice tip. It was kind of redemption for me after that play on the first goal,” Bellows said.

Czerkawski’s goal, his 11th, ended Duck goalie Guy Hebert’s shutout streak at 95 minutes 44 seconds, dating to the third period of a loss to St. Louis on Wednesday and including a shutout against Chicago on Friday.

Todd Marchant scored at 18:45 of the second for a 2-1 lead, marking the first time in 17 periods the Ducks have allowed more than one goal in a period.

But Kariya had kept the game close, scoring his eighth goal at 11:13 of the second period off a pass from Teemu Selanne on a three-on-one rush that was created partly by Ted Drury’s hit on Edmonton defenseman Boris Mironov.

Kariya scored his ninth goal of the season after Joseph was pulled for an extra attacker. Inconceivable as it might seem, he is on a pace to score 48 goals.

Wilson thinks the Ducks’ defensive style could handicap Kariya--though he allows that given plenty of power-play opportunities, both Selanne and Kariya’s numbers will jump.

“It’s hard to say,” Wilson said. “He’s going to score a lot of goals, no doubt. I wouldn’t venture a prediction.”

That’s a good idea considering the unpredictable events so far. The Ducks have seen how bad things can get.