Ducks Reach Milestone of a Lesser Sort

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Hardly 24 hours after celebrating their first road victory and the first hat trick in team history, the Mighty Ducks recorded another first Wednesday.

They were shut out.

The unbeaten New Jersey Devils pushed aside the Ducks, 4-0, behind three third-period goals in front of 14,009 at the Meadowlands Arena.

Martin Brodeur, a 21-year-old New Jersey goaltender, recorded his first NHL shutout while having to make only 17 saves. The Ducks didn’t take their first shot until 10 minutes into the game, and they had only five in each of the first two periods.

A night after beating the New York Rangers in Madison Square Garden in a victory that turned heads around the NHL, the Ducks were off their game.

“I think we were a little flat-footed tonight, and that’s understandable,” said Duck goaltender Ron Tugnutt. “We played a very exciting game against the Rangers. It was very draining.”

Tugnutt made 35 saves and earned praise from his teammates and Coach Ron Wilson, but he gave up two goals in a span of 74 seconds early in the third period, and a game that he had held in check at 1-0 while the Ducks struggled offensively had begun to fall out of reach.

Alexander Semak made it 2-0 only 38 seconds into the third period with his fifth goal when he took a puck that was fluttering in the crease and scored easily.

Scott McKay then beat Tugnutt, who was screened, from the right circle at 1:46 of the third to give the Devils a 3-0 lead.

The first and last goals--both on power plays--were scored by former King Corey Millen and Claude Lemieux, respectively.

“In the other games, the defense and everybody in general has been clearing rebounds,” Tugnutt said. “I just don’t think we were playing as well as in other games so far, whether it be jumping on loose pucks or bumping and grinding or outworking the other team.

“We have to outwork the opponent. We don’t have the talent. If we don’t outwork them, the end result is no points for us.”

Since a 7-2 loss to Detroit in their first game, the Ducks had gone 2-1-2 with the only loss in overtime. Wednesday’s was their second-poorest performance, but they said it felt nothing like the first.

“The difference was we were in the game until the third period,” captain Troy Loney said. “The first time we were untested and unknown. The thing is now, we know we can play well. We know what we have to do to win. It’s comforting to know what that is.”

Said Tugnutt: “We had a four-game undefeated streak. We can’t get down on ourselves now.” The Ducks’ 4-2 upset of the Rangers on Tuesday came behind Terry Yake’s first NHL hat trick. On Wednesday, Yake managed only two shots.

“For me, I didn’t feel overly tired,” he said. “I had a hard time getting going because of the flow of the game. Whenever we got opportunities going, we blew it ourselves taking stupid penalties.”

Loney, who won two Stanley Cup rings with Pittsburgh, laughed at the idea that either the victory or the loss was momentous.

“I’ve seen better highs and I’ve seen worse lows. You’ve got to find an even keel,” he said. “When we beat a team everybody says we’re not expected to beat, we can’t just say, ‘We don’t have to work now.’

“We can’t just rest on our laurels--we don’t have any. We’re building new things here.”