Ducks’ Attack Blunted Repeatedly by Shields

The Mighty Ducks fired 47 shots at San Jose backup goaltender Steve Shields, put only two behind him and could do no better than to tie the Sharks, 2-2, before 15,958 on Friday at the Arrowhead Pond.

The Ducks squandered a two-goal lead, a wide advantage in shots on goal and a sizable edge in tough hits along the boards in failing to defeat the Sharks for the seventh consecutive game.

Their last victory over the Sharks was April 11, 1997, the night the Ducks clinched home-ice advantage against the Phoenix Coyotes in the playoffs. But those heady days seemed long gone Friday.

San Jose’s Jeff Friesen scored his 11th goal in 21 career games against the Ducks to ignite the Sharks’ comeback with less than a minute left in the second period.

Leading, 2-1, midway through the third period, the Ducks then watched San Jose’s Ron Sutter win a faceoff from Steve Rucchin to goaltender Guy Hebert’s right.

The puck went to David Lowry in the high slot and his quick wrist shot whistled past Hebert and into the net to tie the score, 2-2, at 10:27.

Enforcer Jim McKenzie had the Ducks’ best chance in overtime, but couldn’t convert from point-blank range. Defenseman Jamie Pushor’s point shot hit Shields in the mask moments later.

Unlike in Wednesday’s 3-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues, the start and the middle were not problems for the Ducks.

But their finish Friday left them with some explaining to do at game’s end. They had gone 3-0-3 before losing to St. Louis. But the Ducks’ last two performances haven’t exactly pleased Coach Craig Hartsburg.

Referee Mark Faucette dropped the puck at precisely 7:40 p.m. Friday, and the Ducks were on time for a change.

The Ducks were no-shows Wednesday as far as Hartsburg was concerned. He ripped them for their lack of effort after Wednesday’s loss ended their six-game unbeaten streak.

Hartsburg continued to harp on the notion that there is no substitute for hard work at a pregame meeting with the team Friday morning.

Asked what was said at the meeting, Hartsburg repeated the line uttered by a thousand coaches a thousand times.

“If I wanted you to know what was said, I would have invited you into the meeting,” he said, managing a faint smile.

“We talked [Wednesday] about a few things that we have to do, and then we didn’t do them,” he continued. “You need great personnel to win, but unless you’re willing to pay the price every night, you’re not going to be a great team.”

You can bet that Hartsburg put it less delicately to the Ducks during Friday’s meeting. The Ducks apparently took his words to heart Friday evening, jumping on the Sharks right from the start.

They won all the little battles, outmuscled the Sharks along the boards and outworked them in front of the net. Their power-play and penalty-killing units were superb.

About the only downer for the Ducks over the course of the first two periods was Friesen’s goal with the teams skating four-on-four late in the second period.

Friesen’s goal cut Anaheim’s lead to 2-1 and gave the overwhelmed Sharks a lift heading into the third period.

The Ducks built their two-goal lead on power-play goals by right wing Tomas Sandstrom, at 10:15 of the first period, and defenseman Ruslan Salei, at 8:50 of the second.

It was a pleasing development for Hartsburg, whose power-play unit has been on the blink for most of the season. The Ducks went into the game with five power-play goals in 50 chances, the fourth-lowest conversion rate in the NHL.

The Ducks also managed to kill off a five-on-three situation for 1:26 early in the second period. Salei’s goal at 8:50 then gave the Ducks a 2-0 lead that wouldn’t last.

However, the best jolt of all for the Ducks early on might have been seeing Shields starting in goal instead of Mike Vernon.

Vernon has dominated the Ducks like few other goalies over the seasons. He was 6-0 with a 1.76 goals-against average against the Ducks last season and is 14-4-3 with a 1.96 goals-against average in 21 career games against them.