RUCCHIN 1 GOAL SHORT DUCKS 4, FLORIDA 4.

Byline: Brice Nixon Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - One minute Steve Rucchin was celebrating a hat trick that had given the Mighty Ducks a three-goal lead over the Florida Panthers. The next minute the Ducks were clinging to a one-goal lead Sunday that seemed all too precarious against a team that had gone to overtime in six of its past seven game.

Rucchin scored what would have been his third goal to give the Ducks a 5-2 lead 6:48 into the third period. But it was called back because the Ducks had too many men on the ice.

It proved crucial as the Panthers scored on the ensuing power play, then tied the game with 13.3 seconds remaining, leaving the Ducks with a 4-4 draw in front of 13,254 at the Pond.

``I feel bad for the people that lost their hats, that's for sure,'' Rucchin said. ``If it was me, I wouldn't be too thrilled about losing my hat for nothing.''

Twice Rucchin gave the Ducks a one-goal lead, but each time the Panthers scored after the Ducks killed off a Florida power play. And Rucchin thought he had given them a sure victory with goal No. 3. But even before the hats were cleared from the ice, the Ducks were suddenly left just trying to hold on.

It didn't matter that Florida was winless in its past eight games, or that the Ducks outplayed them the entire game.

``They were dead and buried, and we gave them life,'' Ducks coach Mike Babcock said. ``It's not like the game was close. How many chances did we have to bury them? We had a ton and we didn't finish, and they finished.

``It's not like we sat back or anything. We didn't.''

Florida had gone into overtime in three consecutive games and Kristian Huselius' goal with 13.3 seconds left in the third period made it four in a row. But the Ducks thought they had it won long before that.

``These are the games that we have to win. There's no excuse about it,'' Ducks goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere said.

Rucchin's first goal came 3:26 into the game, when he put in a rebound of a shot from Paul Kariya.

The Ducks then had to fight off a double minor to Kurt Sauer, who was called for high sticking. They killed off the penalty without giving the Panthers any quality chances.

A defensive lapse allowed Florida to tie the score. Valeri Bure passed to Stephane Matteau, who had skated alone in front of the Ducks' goal. Matteau deflected Bure's pass past Giguere.

Rucchin scored again just 46 seconds later. Keith Carney's shot was saved by Florida goalie Roberto Luongo, but Rucchin outmuscled Olli Jokinen to get to the rebound, scoring to give the Ducks a 2-1 lead. The Panthers then put Jani Hurme in goal in place of Luongo, who had a 3.26 goals-against average and an .898 save percentage entering the game.

Again the Ducks had to fight off a Florida power play shortly after scoring, and this time the Panthers capitalized. Marcus Nilson scored on a rebound from a shot by Bure.

With 3:18 remaining in the period, the Ducks' Jason Krog tried to convert a pass from Matt Cullen but was pulled down in front of Florida's goal by a hook from Brad Ference. Andy McDonald gave the Ducks a 3-2 lead when he scored a power-play goal on a rebound from Cullen's shot.

Patric Kjellberg had an opportunity to extend the lead near the end of the period. He took a pass from Kariya and was alone in front of Hurme but couldn't get off a clean shot.

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Photo:

The Mighty Ducks' Pavel Trnka (7) scrambles to get between the puck and goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere, right, at the Pond.

Edna T. Simpson/Daily News