Mighty Ducks Winged in Overtime

DETROIT — This is the kind of series it’s going to be.

So close that one mistake is killing.

So close, an instant ends it all.

The Mighty Ducks were on the verge of stealing Game 1 from the Detroit Red Wings on Friday night before Detroit grabbed it back when Martin Lapointe scored 59 seconds into overtime, handing the Ducks a 2-1 loss in front of 19,983 at Joe Louis Arena in the opening game of their best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series.

The Ducks had a hard-won 1-0 lead on a second-period goal by Paul Kariya that vanished when Sergei Fedorov scored with 8:59 left in the third.

Then, in the first minute of overtime, a mistake by the Ducks’ Bobby Dollas allowed Lapointe and Brendan Shanahan to get out on a two-on-one rush, and Lapointe ended it quickly, scoring the game-winner off Shanahan’s pass.

“We’ve got the Detroit Red Wings down, 1-0, in their own building with 10 minutes left,” Duck goalie Guy Hebert said. “The first game in the series was right in our hands. We’re definitely disappointed, but I think we showed we can play with them. This will be a fight.

“It’s a seven-game series. It’s not single-elimination.”

The Ducks hadn’t lost in overtime all season, and had never lost in overtime on the road in their four-year history.

The Ducks played the defensive style they wanted for most of the game’s 61 minutes. But a couple of breakdowns cost them.

“I thought we played very well,” Duck Coach Ron Wilson said. “But we were caught cheating a couple of times and it ended up in their net.”

Detroit goalie Mike Vernon made 19 saves and Wilson credited him with saving the game on stops against Teemu Selanne and Richard Park in the third.

But overtime was over so quickly he didn’t have to make any saves.

Duck defenseman Dmitri Mironov was battling for the puck along the boards near the Detroit blue line when it popped free. But Dollas moved up on the action, and when the play went the other way, that left Paul Kariya as the only defender back on a two-on-one in overtime.

“Unfortunately, Paul was the guy back, and that can’t happen,” said Dollas, a former Red Wing. “The puck was bouncing like crazy. It came squirting out, Murphy dove on it, like face first, and knocked the puck behind me and away they went.

“We made a mistake, we’ve got to live by it. But that’s why this is a seven-game series. We’ll be back.”

Kariya tried to cut off the pass, but two-on-ones aren’t supposed to go against your leading scorer and one of your smallest players.

“I don’t know, [Mironov] was just trying to push the puck and all of a sudden there was a two-on-one against me,” Kariya said. “I don’t know where the ‘D’ were.”

Hebert played Shanahan--the Red Wings’ big gun--to shoot, and second-guessed himself.

“I put all my eggs in one basket because I thought he was going to shoot. I maybe challenged him too much,” Hebert said. “He slid it over and I didn’t get back. I’m a little frustrated, even though it was a two-on-one. I should have read it a little better. If I come up with that save, it just continues on.”

It was a game that went much the way the season series did--except then the Red Wings didn’t beat the Ducks, going 0-3-1.

The last time these teams played, on March 30, the Ducks won, 1-0, in overtime.

The Ducks quieted the crowd when Kariya broke a scoreless tie with a power-play goal when he put a rebound into the net with a minute left in the second for his sixth goal in eight playoff games.

The Ducks had chances to go up, 2-0, but with 8:59 left in the game, Fedorov came through with his first goal of the playoffs.

The Ducks chased Tomas Sandstrom down the right wing, and when Sandstrom carried the puck behind the net, Fedorov cut down the slot, left open with Kariya trailing him to take Sandstrom’s pass and tie the score at 11:01 of the third.

“It should never have gone to overtime,” Kariya said. “I made a bad play on the first goal, not coming back to Sergei.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

DUCKS vs. RED WINGS

Red Wings lead series 1-0

Game 1: Red Wings 2-1 (OT)

Sunday at Detroit, 11 a.m.

Tuesday at Anaheim, 7:30 p.m.

Thursday at Anaheim, 7:30 p.m.

May 10 at Detroit, 4:30 p.m.-x

May 12 at Anaheim, 7 p.m.-x

May 14 at Detroit, 4:30 p.m.-x

* if necessary

OTHER GAMES, C11

New Jersey 2, N.Y. Rangers 0

Colorado 5, Edmonton 1