Victory Just Ducky for Whalers

The Hartford Whalers haven’t made any more appearances in the Stanley Cup playoffs than the Mighty Ducks have the last three seasons.

And, of course, for one of those seasons, the Ducks didn’t exist.

Hartford is trying to play its way back into the postseason this year, and the Whalers won the sort of game they need to Friday night, beating the Ducks, 4-3, at the Pond of Anaheim. Hartford is 10th in the Eastern Conference, and went 8-4-1 in January as the team tries to win one of eight playoff spots.

The Ducks are in 11th place in the Western Conference--and Friday’s game was the sort they need to win too, if they want to reach the playoffs for the first time. But they lacked the intensity and purposefulness they showed in a victory over Colorado on Wednesday, and they didn’t get the same outstanding performance from goalie Guy Hebert.

“We didn’t respect Hartford,� Duck Coach Ron Wilson said. “I guess I didn’t get the message across. If the message is, the other team deserves respect, then it is my fault we didn’t respect them.

“We had a great effort the other night, then we slacked off tonight . . . three turnovers in our own end ended up being goals.�

The Ducks started the game poorly, giving up a goal only 32 seconds after the opening faceoff. Hebert never saw Glen Wesley’s high floater through traffic, and Hartford led, 1-0.

The damage was quickly undone by Joe Sacco, who rifled a shot past Hartford goalie Sean Burke only 34 seconds later, tying the score.

Hartford took another lead when Geoff Sanderson jumped on a loose rebound and scored the game’s third goal with only 3:02 gone. The Ducks went in tied, 2-2, at the first intermission after Steve Rucchin was credited with a power-play goal with seven seconds left in the first.

There were three more goals in the second period. Anaheim took a 3-2 lead when Valeri Karpov scored off a three-on-one counterattack, but the Whalers scored the next two to take a 4-3 lead into the final period.

Andrew Cassels’ goal at 15:23 of the second was reviewed, but video replays showed his stick was below shoulder height when he scored. Nelson Emerson scored the go-ahead goal at 17:52 of the second when he took a pass from Brendan Shanahan, waited for Hebert to go down, and then put the puck into the net.

The third period was uneventful, with Hartford outshooting the Ducks by a meager seven shots to five. The Whalers held on by holding off the Ducks in the final 37 seconds after Wilson pulled Hebert for an extra attacker.

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Duck Notes

Late in the second period, Linesman Baron Parker was taken off the ice with his neck in a brace after a collision with the Ducks’ Paul Kariya, but the initial report said he suffered only a mild concussion and was taken to St. Joseph Hospital in Orange for precautionary X-rays. . . . Center David Sacco didn’t play because of a lingering right shoulder strain. He was injured against Vancouver last week but was able to play the next two games. He was replaced in the lineup by rookie Chad Kilger, who had been a healthy scratch the previous three games. . . . The Ducks wore their alternate jerseys again and are 0-2 in them after losing to the Kings in their debut last week.