DUCKS LEARN THE HARD WAY : BOSTON 3, DUCKS 2.

Byline: Greg Christensen Staff Writer

Going to school isn't always fun. The education of the Mighty Ducks continued Sunday as they were schooled by the Boston Bruins in a 3-2 loss before 14,712 at the Pond.

For the first 40 minutes, the Ducks were little more than spectators as the Bruins feasted on their mistakes to take a 3-0 lead.

Anaheim rousted itslef in time for the third period, but goals by Matt Cullen (at 12:06) and Oleg Tverdovsky (18:48) merely made the score more pleasing to the eye. Those in the know knew better.

``A good team would have done things differently, but we are not at that level yet,'' said Ducks winger Paul Kariya. ``If we had played smarter early, we would have taken the game over by the third period. We have to keep learning from these lessons.''

Sunday's lesson came in the form of Anaheim's fifth loss of the year, one that Ducks coach Craig Hartsburg could almost see coming.

``This started the other night in Chicago,'' said Hartsburg of last Thursday's 5-5 tie against the lowly Blackhawks. ``We started to cheat and there are no shortcuts to winning.

``Boston was the more desperate team in the first two periods and, if you are willing to pay the price and do the little team things, you are going to win.''

After scoring 12 goals in their last two games, the Ducks were blanked for 52 minutes they strayed off the course that produced those goals. Defense and forechecking became secondary.

``When we turn pucks over and forecheck we are a very effective team; not many teams can stay with us,'' said Kariya. ``But when we don't we're not a playoff contender.''