Ducks Keep Fires Burning, Tie Flames

The hockey landscape can change quickly in the NHL, which should give the Mighty Ducks some hope.

A 3-3 tie with the Calgary Flames was one of those at-least-we-got-a-point moments in recent seasons. Wednesday, this was a point worth savoring.

Calgary’s Dave Lowry chipped in a rebound 15 minutes 48 seconds into the third period, negating what was nearly a come-from-behind victory for the Ducks. Still, no heads were down, not even among the announced 9,639 at the Arrowhead Pond Wednesday.

The Ducks had the better of it in overtime and Steve Rucchin nearly won it when his shot dinged the cross bar with 34 seconds left.

These were the Calgary Flames, after all. Sound strange? It would until this season.

The Flames haven’t been the center of the NHL universe since winning the Stanley Cup in 1988-89. They have not won a playoff series since, going 0-6. They have missed the playoffs the last four seasons.

“It’s fun coming rink this year,” Flame center Craig Conroy said. “Last year wasn’t that much fun. Everything is flowing, everything is working.”

Enough things worked Wednesday.

Lowry picked up a loose puck in the slot and whipped a shot through a crowd that beat goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

Until that moment, the Ducks seemed to have a well-earned victory in hand.

Paul Kariya, using his old stick, playing old school, let loose a blistering slap shot that was a blur until in smacked into the back of the net. It gave the Ducks a 3-2 lead 11:54 into the third period.

Rucchin had tied the score with a power play goal 5:46 into the third period. Yet, it didn’t hold.

The Flames are 10-2-1-2, their best start since moving to Calgary before the 1980-81 season. They have Jarome Iginla, the league’s newest scoring sensation, who had two goals, giving him 11 on the season.

Iginla is tops in the NHL in scoring with 25 points. Only three players have led the league in scoring in a non-lockout season 1979-80--Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr. Iginla is off to a start that could land his name on the Art Ross trophy with that trio.

So for the Ducks, this was the start of four games against some of the NHL’s top teams, with Detroit Dallas and San Jose coming to the Pond in the next week.

The Flames, at the moment, are considered among that elite group.

“I don’t know about these games testing us, but these are pretty much must-win games,” Rucchin said. “These are teams in our conference, teams that we are going to compete against for the playoffs.”

The Ducks had won four of six games, moving to within one game of .500 for the third time this season. They had received solid defensive play, good goal tending and had scored 20 goals in their last six games.

“We don’t want to take a step backward,” Rucchin said. “We want to make some strides and build on what we’ve done the last few weeks.”