DUCKS STREAK STOPPED; FOR FIFTH TIME, ANAHEIM CAN'T NOTCH THIRD WIN IN A ROW.Byline: Greg Christensen Staff Writer The Mighty Ducks
Mighty Ducks is a half-hour Disney animated series aired on ABC and The Disney Afternoon in the fall of 1996. Twenty-six episodes total were produced. continue to have a hard time handling the limited success they have enjoyed this season. For the fifth time this year, Anaheim was trying to put together its first three-game winning streak Noun 1. winning streak - a streak of wins streak, run - an unbroken series of events; "had a streak of bad luck"; "Nicklaus had a run of birdies" . For the fifth time, the Ducks failed as they lost to Tampa Bay Tampa Bay, inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, 25 mi (40 km) long and 7 to 12 mi (11.3–19 km) wide, W Fla., separated from the Gulf by numerous small islands; it receives the Hillsborough River. St. 4-2 before 12,047 on Wednesday night at the Pond. Darcy Tucker Darcy Tucker (born March 15, 1975 in Castor, Alberta) is an ice hockey player with the NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs. Early career The 5'10" winger was drafted in the 6th round (151st overall) by the Montreal Canadiens in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. escaped from Matt Cullen Matthew "Matt" Cullen (born November 2, 1976 in Virginia, Minnesota) is a professional ice hockey centre who currently plays for the Carolina Hurricanes of the NHL. He is the older brother of Detroit Red Wings player Mark Cullen. and poked home Stan Drulia's centering pass at 17:14 to win it for the Lightning. Tucker added an empty-net goal at 19:29. The Ducks haven't won more than two games in a row since last season when they had a seven-game streak in March. It didn't take long for Guy Hebert Guy Andre Hebert (born January 7, 1967 in Troy, New York) is a former professional ice hockey goaltender. Always a proud American, he used the French pronunciation of his first and last names because it "sounded better." He played for the St. and the Ducks to dig themselves a hole. Dan Kesa skated to the right circle and beat Hebert on the glove side at 1:40 of the first period. It was exactly the kind of goal Hebert hadn't been giving up in recent weeks. In the 12 games before Wednesday, Hebert had allowed two or less 10 times. He had a 1.77 goals against average and a 93.5 save percentage. But the Ducks' No. 1 line of Paul Kariya, Teemu Selanne and Steve Rucchin righted the ship. After an aggressive forecheck, Selanne skated behind the Tampa Bay net and put a backhand pass on Kariya's stick in the slot. The Anaheim winger wasted no time snapping a wrist shot past Dan Cloutier at 6:17 for his team-leading 12th goal of the season. Not to be outdone out·do tr.v. out·did , out·done , out·do·ing, out·does To do more or better than in performance or action. See Synonyms at excel. , the Ducks' No. 3 line of Mike Leclerc, Antti Aalto and Jeff Nielsen worked over the Lightning and scored a working-class goal that gave Anaheim a 2-1 lead at 11:40. After Aalto kept the puck alive in the Tampa Bay zone, Nielsen passed to Leclerc. The rookie's backhander back·hand n. 1. Sports a. A stroke or motion, as of a racket, made with the back of the hand facing outward and the arm moving forward. b. A pass or shot in hockey made with the back of the blade of the stick. hit a Tampa Bay defender, but he followed that with a wrist shot that Cloutier couldn't locate due to a screen by Aalto. The goal was Leclerc's fifth, and his first in five games since recovering from elbow surgery. Tampa Bay controlled the early portion of the second period, and the Lightning thought it had tied the game at 1:27. But referee Dennis LaRue ruled that Pavel Torgaev batted the puck out of Hebert's grasp and into the net after the play had been whistled dead. Tampa Bay, however, continued to grind away and its efforts paid dividends at 16:02 when Kesa tied the game with his second goal. Hebert looked sharp in stopping a long deflection by Robert Petrovicky and two point-blank shots by Stephen Guolla. But there was nothing Hebert could do on Kesa's goal. Just after Cloutier stopped Aalto on a partial breakaway, Guolla shook off Pascal Trepanier and fanned on his shot, but the Ducks defenseman inadvertently centered the puck to Kesa, who ripped it past Hebert. Before Tampa Bay tied the game, the Ducks had two chances to extend their lead on the power play, but the struggling unit once again failed to produce. The Ducks have converted just one of their last 20 power-play opportunities and have just two power-play goals in the last 12 games. CAPTION(S): photo PHOTO Ducks defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky, right, gets his stick far enough forward to hinder the progress of Tampa Bay center The Tampa Bay Center was a shopping mall located in Tampa, Florida. It was opened in 1976 and operated until 2001, when most of its tenants relocated to the nearby International Plaza. The mall was acquired by Malcolm Glazer and his family for $22. Darcy Tucker, who was sizing up a shot. John Hayes/Associated Press |
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