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ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- The crowd at Arrowhead Pond took an unexpected ride on an emotional roller coaster before leaving happy. Mike Leclerc scored 10 seconds into overtime to give the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim a 4-3 victory over the Calgary Flames after they blew a lead with a tenth of a second remaining in the third period. With time winding down in regulation, Calgary defenseman Toni Lydman kept the puck in at the left point before whipping a desperation shot toward the net. The puck sneaked through goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere's pads just before the final buzzer, guaranteeing the Flames a point. "I saw a lot of traffic in front and I just wanted to throw the puck at the net before the buzzer," Lydman said. "I don't know how it went in. I think that's the first 6-on-5 goal that I ever scored." "I actually saw the release, but it went through (defenseman Keith) Carney's pants and I lost track of it," Giguere said. "I just fell on my knees, hoping it would hit me. I had no idea how much time there was. I knew it was close. I knew it was a good goal." The Ducks did not let the improbable tally discourage them. Steve Rucchin, who had three assists, intercepted Jarome Iginla's pass behind the Calgary net and fed Leclerc, who rifled a one-timer from the right faceoff circle past goalie Jamie McLennan to give Anaheim its sixth victory in seven games. "It was a good forecheck by Rucchin," Leclerc said. "Their guy kind of fumbled it. All I had to do was flip it in." "It was good to get one with (a tenth of a second) left, but that quick one, that was my fault," said Iginla, whose three-game goal-scoring streak came to an end. Petr Sykora scored twice and Paul Kariya had two assists for the Ducks, whose last seven contests have been decided by one goal. They moved four points ahead of Chicago for the final Western Conference playoff berth. "Tonight, it was getting two points ugly, but we'll take it," Kariya said. "It was far from our best night and won't make the highlight reels, but it's important to get two points like this." "I thought we forced everything all night. I thought we were trying to impress our dads instead of playing the game," Anaheim coach Mike Babcock added. "We have to learn how to play with a lead. We've got to learn how to win. We weren't nearly as good as we should have been tonight. Give the guys credit, they found a way to win when we didn't have our 'A' game." The victory was the Ducks' 10th in a row by one goal, breaking the NHL record set by the 1926-27 Ottawa Senators. Oleg Saprykin and Chris Drury also scored for the Flames, who have just one win in their last seven games (1-4-1-1). "We played really well," Calgary coach Darryl Sutter said. "I thought we deserved a better fate." Neither team was able to score in the first period, but Anaheim grabbed the lead on Patric Kjellberg's seventh goal. Kjellberg gathered a loose puck low in the right circle and lifted a shot over McLennan's glove at 10:37 of the second for his second tally in three games. Saprykin knotted the contest 6 1/2 minutes later with a strong individual effort. After picking up the puck in the neutral zone, the Russian winger skated down the left side and around defenseman Niclas Havelid before firing a slap shot from the left circle between Giguere's pads at 17:06 for his first goal since December 29. "He scored one and cost us one," Sutter said. "He got the first goal and cost us the third. Our better players have to do things for us to win hockey games, not just be out there looking nice." The Flames cashed in on a two-man advantage early in the third to take their first lead. With Sykora and rookie defenseman Kurt Sauer serving high-sticking penalties, Drury took a feed from newly acquired Andrew Ference and blasted a one-timer from the left point past Giguere at 3:01 for his third tally in four contests. Sykora answered with a power-play goal just over three minutes later, tapping in Rucchin's cross-crease pass to draw Anaheim even. "Scoring the power-play goal to tie the game was the big difference," Kariya said. "They had just scored to go up. Last year, it would have ended 2-1. Now we have the experience and know-how to win the tight games. It's not only the experience, it's also better players and a better power play." Obtained from New Jersey in the offseason, Sykora completed his third multi-goal game for the Ducks at 10:11, one-timing Kariya's feed from behind the net after Adam Oates battled to control the puck in the left corner. "I felt that as a line we didn't play bad, but we didn't create enough chances," Sykora said. "I didn't feel I was in the game in the first two periods." The assist was the 1,047th of Oates' career, putting him within two of Gordie Howe for sixth place on the all-time list. |
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