Lemieux Lifts Avs In OT
- Two heads in the Edmonton penalty box were better than one, as far as the Anaheim Mighty Ducks were concerned.
The Ducks scored three goals during two-man advantages, including two 54 seconds apart by Teemu Selanne in the second period, to rally past the Oilers 6-4 Sunday.
"I was sitting on the bench talking to Billy Guerin, and I told him I couldn't believe how many five-on-threes they had," Edmonton left wing Ryan Smyth said. "I've never been in a game where there were that many in one period."
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After Frank Musil was sent off for roughing and Tom Poti followed him into the penalty box 35 seconds later for hooking Steve Rucchin, Selanne gave Anaheim a 4-3 lead at 7:41 of the second period with a 10-footer from the slot.
"I thought the call on Tom Poti has got to be questionable, especially since it gave them a five-on-three," Oilers coach Ron Low said. "They should get some high-diving boards for this team because they're pretty good at it."
Poti was still serving his time when former Ducks goalie Mikhail Shtalenkov cleared the puck over the glass and was called for delay of game. Selanne burned the Oilers again during the ensuing five-on-three situation with his 21st goal. He converted a rebound of Fredrik Olausson's shot from the right circle to increase the margin to 5-3 with 11:25 left in the period -- and send Shtalenkov to the bench after facing 16 shots.
"We actually haven't done a great job all year on five-on-threes," Ducks coach Craig Hartsburg said. "But our guys persevered. We were down 3-1 and we just kept coming."
The Ducks' first goal also came during a two-man adantage they had for 29 seconds, following staggered penalties against Dean McAmmond and Janne Niinimaa. Olausson tied it 1-1 with 16 seconds left on McAmmond's penalty, as Paul Kariya set up a one-timer at the top of the right circle by Olausson that beat Shtalenkov low to the glove side.
"He's definitely stepped up huge for us lately," Rucchin said of Olausson. "He knows what to do with the puck offensively and he's been taking advantage of it."
Kariya had a goal and three assists to increase his league-leading point total to 55. Matt Cullen scored a shorthanded goal and Guy Hebert stopped 33 of the 34 shots he faced after replacing the ineffective Dominic Roussel in the first period.
McAmmond and Mike Grier scored 14 seconds apart to cap a three-goal first period by the Oilers. Todd Reirden opened the scoring with his first NHL goal and Josef Beranek had a power play goal in the third.
Roussel, awarded a second consecutive start by Hartsburg after a solid outing on Friday night against Phoenix, faced 15 shots and was chased with 4:32 left in the opening period after McAmmond and Grier gave Edmonton a 3-1 lead.
But two big breaks helped the Ducks pull themselves into a 3-3 tie. The first one came 24 seconds before the first intermission when an attempted cross-ice pass from Kariya to Selanne was inadvertently redirected into the Edmonton net by Poti. Kariya was credited with his 17th goal.
The Ducks got another break 49 seconds into the second period when a goal by Smyth was disallowed -- eliciting loud protests from the Oilers' bench. The red light went on behind the net, but referee Rob Shick waved it off before the video goal judge agreed with Shick's ruling.
"I shot it right on the corner of the post, saw it hit the mesh and come back, and then it bounced straight down on the line. But it hit the mesh," Smyth said. "Then the linesman came in and said, `I can't believe they're going upstairs because Shick waved it off.'
"I went right back to the goal judge and he said it was in. So I don't understand why they pay these goal judges, because they have two refs and video judges," Smyth said.
Shick said: "At no time did I or the replay official see the puck totally across the goal line. My instinct was to wave it off right away, as you saw. It was no goal. As far as I know, they had all kinds of angles and it never crossed the goal line."
Just 62 seconds later, the Ducks tied the score when Travis Green played the carom off the end boards on a wide shot by teammate Pascal Trepanier and tucked his ninth goal inside the left post.
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