[0] DUCKS OUTLAST BLUE JACKETS HAVELID, TITOV SCORE TWO GOALS EACH DUCKS 5, COLUMBUS 4.

Byline: Frank Welch  Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - Perhaps Mighty Ducks coach Craig Hartsburg is a master strategist. Well, on second thought, that could be up for debate, considering Hartsburg is the leader of a team lodged in last place in the NHL's Pacific Division.

Or, maybe it wasn't Hartsburg at all.

It could simply be that the light switch finally clicked on in German Titov's head. . . . That little light that might, perhaps, say something like, ``I am not a $4.6 million (over three years) bust and I don't have a retirement contract.''

Whether it was Hartsburg's subtle message to Titov via the media last Sunday, or Titov himself - or both - the Mighty Ducks finally got what they were looking for when they inked Titov to a free-agent contract on July 1.

Titov scored two goals - matching the total of his first 25 games in Anaheim - and he also added an assist as the struggling Mighty Ducks used the expansion Columbus Blue Jackets for its slump-busting purposes Wednesday night by posting a 5-4 overtime victory before an announced crowd of 11,630 at The Pond.

Niclas Havelid's second goal and fourth point of the game - two minutes and 13 seconds into overtime, won it for the Ducks.

Titov's first- and second-period goals were exactly what Hartsburg and Anaheim general manager Pierre Gauthier envisioned when they brought the 35-year-old center out west from Pittsburgh.

One Titov goal came on a power play that gave Anaheim a lead. Titov's second goal came as a result of hard work. It also gave the Ducks a 4-3 lead with 43 seconds left in the second period.

Columbus tied the game midway through the third period when Tyler Wright's slap shot just inside the blue line sailed past Anaheim goalie Guy Hebert. Yes, it was considered a bad goal - as far as Hebert and the Ducks would be concerned.

However, six minutes prior to his second goal, Titov had the secondary assist on defenseman Niclas Havelid's lazy, yet well-placed shot from just outside the face off circle. On Havelid's goal, an Anaheim player was able to screen Columbus goalie Marc Denis. That player? Titov.

Hartsburg was not critical, but not complimentary, last Sunday when asked about Titov's crummy play this season following a 1-0 loss to Dallas. ``His game is starting to pick up,'' Hartsburg said. When asked whether Titov had not played up to expectation, Hartsburg said, ``Yes, you could say that.''

Titov had five points and 35 minutes in penalties before Wednesday's play. He was noted for his absence on the ice and his silly, untimely penalties, not the solid 50-point per season second line center that Anaheim thought it inked last summer.

And Titov's game couldn't have made an embattled Hartsburg any happier, unless Titov - or anyone in a Ducks' uniform - got another goal and a game-winner. The Ducks (11-15-4-3, 29 points) had scored two goals or less in 14 of their last 17 games.

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Photo: Ducks defensemen Oleg Tverdovsky, left, and Vitaly Vishnevski, right, flank Columbus' Lyle Odelein in the first period of Wednesday's game.

John Hayes/Associated Press