DUCKS WIN IN OVERTIME DUCKS 3, FLORIDA 2.

Byline: Frank Welch Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - You hear team general managers, coaches and players say it all the time: ``We can't afford to lose (fill in the best performer on team's name here) to injury or otherwise. Without him/her, we're finished.''

In the Ducks' case, they sure weren't kidding.

When Anaheim lost star left wing Paul Kariya with a broken foot 18 days ago, they essentially lost their lifeboat. Kariya wasn't exactly carrying the team on any sort of personal raft, but he was keeping them more or less afloat in the Western Conference playoff chase.

There may be holes and leaks, but the Ducks haven't abandoned ship just yet.

The Ducks, shut out and shut down for 53 minutes on Wednesday night, rallied from two goals down in regulation to tie and then scored the game-winner in overtime for a 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers, the worst team in the 30-team National Hockey League.

A small, quiet, yet critical announced crowd of 11,396 at the Pond watched the Ducks (14-19-5-4) snap a six-game winless skid (0-4-1-1), in which the team has been outscored 19-10 with Kariya out of the lineup.

Anaheim rookie forward Petr Tenkrat, showing all the energy of a 23- year-old playing in his 10th NHL game, won the game with 59 seconds left in overtime when his relentless work with the puck and shaking off two defenders paid handsomely.

But with an offense minus scoring threats Kariya, center Steve Rucchin and Mike Leclerc, the game and its outcome certainly had more positives than negatives for a team that has scored two or fewer goals in 28 of its 42 games.

The Ducks tied the game on goals by Teemu Selanne (with 6:56 left in regulation) and German Titov (with 5:49 left). The Ducks, held to just 11 shots through two periods, rung up 16 shots in the first minutes of the third period.

Anaheim began to show signs of life early in the third period.

Anaheim had a 5-on-3 advantage for the full two minutes when Florida's Peter Worrell and Greg Adams (went of for roughing and tripping, respectively). Worrell, the Panthers' on-ice enforcer, went after Anaheim's Jim Cummins (also a physical presence) after Cummins put a knee-on-knee hit on Florida's high-scoring star Pavel Bure. Cummins, who has a knack for taking foolish penalties this season, resisted retaliation with Worrell, thus setting up the power play.

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Photo: Ducks goalie Dominic Roussel (30) moves out to cut off the Florida Panthers' Rob Niedermayer.

Chris Urso/Associated Press