Shaky Roussel Effort Leaves Ducks Shaken

It was Mighty Duck goalie Dominic Roussel who was feeling ill after Wednesday night.

He didn’t have a queasy stomach, which kept Guy Hebert home and put Roussel in the lineup. It was more a sinking feeling, caused by pucks bouncing off his equipment and into the net.

By the time the New Jersey Devils had polished off a 4-3 victory, those among the announced crowd of 14,027 at the Arrowhead Pond had probably wished they had stayed at home as well. This was not how the Ducks wanted to finish off a homestand, one where they had hoped to pile up some points before the all-star break.

Instead, they went 3-4.

“We can’t worry about what’s behind us, just what is ahead of us.� Coach Craig Hartsburg said. “You’re only as good as your last game and you can only worry about your next game.�

By those standards, Roussel wasn’t very good because often what was behind him was the puck in the net. What is ahead of him is his next game, tonight in Phoenix, where the Ducks play the Coyotes in their last game before the all-star break.

Roussel learned Wednesday morning he would start. Hebert had been ill for a few days, and had consulted a doctor after Monday’s 5-3 victory over Pittsburgh.

After shutting out the Devils in the first period, things began to unravel for Roussel and the Ducks.

First, he misjudged a shot by Scott Stevens that tied the score, 1-1, a little more than a minute into the second period. Stevens fired from the blue line and Roussel had an unobstructed view, but missed the shot.

It got worse.

Petr Sykora’s centering pass on a power play hit the inside of Roussel’s left leg and ricocheted into the net to tie the score, 2-2, at 13:27 of the second period.

In the third period, Jason Arnott came in clean on Roussel and fired a shot that flicked off his glove and fluttered into the net.

The game-winner, though, came on a solid effort by Lyle Odelein, who had two quick shots blocked before slipping a pass to Vadim Sharifijanov. Roussel never had a chance, as Sharifijanov tipped the pass into the net.

Devil goalie Martin Brodeur also had his shaky moments, but was brilliant down the stretch. Steve Rucchin was able to jam a shot past him in the second period and Ted Drury knocked one in off Brodeur’s skate to tie the score, 3-3, six minutes into the third period--Drury’s first goal since last April.

But Brodeur turned away Teemu Selanne while sitting down with nine minutes left. He then made a pad save on Paul Kariya, who shot point-blank in front of the net with three minutes left.

“We can’t worry about other teams, we have to worry about our state of mind,� Hartsburg said. “We’re the team that should be the desperate team, the hungry team. No matter who comes into our building, that should be the case.�

It was at the start.

Kariya scooped up the puck in his own zone, then blew down the left boards. New Jersey defenseman Brian Rolston let Kariya pass at the blue line, a mistake that would cost the Devils. Kariya blasted a shot just inside the right post for a 1-0 lead barely three minutes into the game.

“This was not what we wanted on this homestand,� Kariya said. “But you can’t look at the season in stretches. You can’t say, ‘We need to play well during this stretch, but we don’t have to play well during that stretch.’ We just need to play tough and get back on track.�