DUCKS CONTINUE TO LOSE AT THE GATE ONLY 10,000 WATCH TEAM'S OVERTIME TIE WITH BRUINS DUCKS 1, BOSTON 1.

Byline: Frank Welch Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - During their loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday, the Mighty Ducks reached a franchise low when the team drew an announced crowd of 9,579 to the Pond.

Anaheim didn't set a new ``record'' on Wednesday night, however, the second-smallest home crowd in team history was at least treated to a higher quality brand of hockey.

The announced gathering of 10,348 saw the Mighty Ducks put forth three relatively solid periods during a game with the Boston Bruins that ended in a 2-2 tie.

The Ducks, who have had their two worst home crowds in their 313-game Pond history come in back-to-back games, had a previous record low (before the Tampa Bay game) of 10,961 for the Nashville game last Jan. 31.

The Ducks, in response to critical comments from captain Paul Kariya and coach Bryan Murray, did step up the effort against the Bruins and they were able to sustain it for 60 minutes.

Anaheim (2-4-1) had an opportunity to get the victory and the additional point in overtime. However, Boston goalie John Grahame stopped Jeff Friesen on a breakaway with 13 seconds left in the five-minute, 4-on-4 extra period.

``I thought I did enough to where I could beat him,'' Friesen said. ``If I could do it again, I might have shown some more patience. He made a great save, but obviously, I would haved loved to bury that one.''

The Ducks were able to get the point largely because of the play of goalie Steve Shields. Both Shields and Grahame played solid, with Shields stopping 39 of 41 shots and Grahame turning back 29 of 31 Anaheim shots.

Shields has stopped 82 of 87 shots over his past three games (a .943 save percentage). He also received a vote of confidence from coach Bryan Murray.

``He's going to play at this point,'' said Murray, suggesting that Shields would see the majority of time with Jean-Sebastien Giguere seeing a more limited role. ``If he's not too tired, he'll play (tonight against the Kings).''

The first 31 minutes were scoreless, however, the Ducks and Bruins each exchanged two goals apiece over the next six minutes of the second period. Both teams turned up the offensive intensity along with the physical, chippy style of play.

The Bruins coverted a power play with 8:22 left in the second when center Brian Rolston slapped home a one-timer off a pass from Sergei Samsonov.

The Boston goal came four seconds after Anaheim's Petr Tenkrat left the penalty box. Tenkrat went off 34 seconds before teammate Ruslan Salei was sent off for two minutes for hooking, giving Boston ample time with a 5-on-3 power play.

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Rob Zamuner of the Boston Bruins runs into the Ducks' Vitaly Vishnevski during first period play Wednesday night in Anaheim.

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press