Devils 4 Mighty Ducks 3 ANAHEIM – Adventureland is miles away in Disney country, but every shot came from there last night, the way both goaltenders were blundering.
Soft goals abounded last night, and All-Star starter Martin Brodeur was the less shaky of the two opposing netminders, as the Devils beatthe Ducks 4-3 here on Vadim Sharifijanov’s goal with 12:20 left.
The victory was New Jersey’s second in six games, and squared this California trip at 1-1. The Devils wind up the three-game swing in Los Angeles tonight.
Lyle Odelein, still searching for his first goal of the season, had three assists for New Jersey, which withstood the early speed threats of Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya.
The Devils didn’t manage a lead until Jason Arnott’s goal 3:16 into the third gave them a 3-2 edge. Kariya opened the scoring in the first, and Scott Stevens answered in the second. Steve Rucchin put Anaheim on top for its last time, before Petr Sykora erased that lead.
Arnott flew in from New Jersey sickbed Tuesday, having missed Monday’s 3-1 loss in San Jose with flu. Robbie Ftorek had planned to use the 24-year-old sparingly, but resorted to him more as the night progressed, and the Devils came up lucky on that decision. A sharp headman pass from Ken Daneyko sent Arnott into the Ducks’ zone, and he loaded up his wrist shot in the left circle only to misfire, the puck flipping up softly.
Ducks goalie Dominic Roussel, who should have stopped both previous Devils’ goals, reached up from his crouch at the puck that was headed over the crossbar and knocked it down with his glove, into the net for Arnott’s 10th.
Brodeur returned the favor less than three minutes later by allowing his second softie of the night. Ted Drury scored his first of the second on a backhand from the deep left side, the shot going in off Brodeur.
But the Devils weren’t done yet. Odelein led a 2-on-1 for a slap from the left circle, which rebounded back to him. After trying another shot, Odelein then spotted Sharifijanov at the right doorstep for the winner, his seventh of the season.
Brodeur then solidified to withstand a furious Ducks’ attack – including a stop of Kariya on the doorstep with 2:55 to go – and earn his 20th victory of the year.
The first period was a continuation of what had been killing the Devils as they lost four of their previous five – a basic inability to cope with speed.
Kariya and Selanne put on a clinic of quick that had the Devils reeling, if not breaking, and even when they hit Kariya, they couldn’t stop him.
For all that, however, they should have emerged from the first 20 minutes scoreless. Brodeur should have stopped Kariya’s 19th, 3:05 into play.
On his first shift of the night, Kariya grabbed the puck in his own zone, and raced up the left boards against Odelein, who played him as well as he could. From the outside of the circle, Kariya let go a wrist shot that went in on Brodeur’s long side.
Brodeur has been allowing soft goals of late, and those sort hurt a positional team twice as much as a good goal, since defensemen must then rethink their strategy of allowing wide shots to protect the middle. Last night, Ftorek sought to match Stevens and Scott Niedermayer against Kariya and Selanne, while the Ducks liked to see that line, with Rucchin, against Ken Daneyko and Odelein.
The Devils’ only real chance of the first came on the first shift, when Jay Pandolfo fed Brian Rolston, perhaps the speediest Devil, on a 2-on-1, only to see Rolston shoot wide of Roussel.
For all of Anaheim’s dominance, the Devils tied the score 1:15 into the second when Roussel waved at Stevens’ 50-foot slap. Stevens rushed from his zone and hammered his fourth long side, under Roussel’s glove, another goal that should have been stopped.
It only took Anaheim 39 seconds to reclaim the lead on Rucchin’s 14th. Rolston had dumped Rucchin at the left side of the net, and was about to be penalized, when Rucchin rose, grabbed the puck and darted behind the cage to score around the right post.
The mediocre goaltending continued as the Devils evened the score again at 13:27 of the second. With his back to the net just above the goal line toward the left corner, Sykora whipped a backhand, meant for Bobby Holik, that went in off an embarrassed Roussel for Sykora’s 13th. *
Patrik Elias remained in New Jersey with the flu, while Randy McKay sat out with a back injury. McKay hopes to play against the Kings tonight … Tomas Sandstrom, with 385 career goals, ranks third all-time among European players, behind Jari Kurri and Peter Stastny … Ducks’ Fredrik Olausson ranks second all-time among European defensemen with 496 points, trailing Borje Salming’s 787.