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Saturday, Oct. 16 7:30pm ET
Spacek seals Ducks' fate with OT goal | |||||
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SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) -- It came down to the power play, and the Florida Panthers had theirs working. The Anaheim Mighty Ducks did not. Jaroslav Spacek scored a power-play goal with 3:34 left in overtime to give the Panthers a 3-2 victory over the Mighty Ducks on Saturday night.
The Mighty Ducks, on the other hand, were 0-for-5 on the power play. They had 11 shots overall with the man advantage. "This was a big win for us, and obviously the 4-on-3 was a big weapon," Spacek said of his first goal of the season. Spacek's goal was set up when Anaheim defenseman Kevin Haller was called for tripping Ray Whitney in the neutral zone. The Panthers, working with a 4-on-3 advantage, capitalized on the opportunity. Robert Svehla worked the puck to Spacek, who blasted the puck past Guy Hebert from the right circle. "I was really lucky, because it looked like it just missed hitting the post before going in," Spacek said. "I was a little nervous because I hadn't scored this season. To get it in overtime is great." Haller's tripping penalty against Whitney came just 46 seconds into the overtime. It took the Panthers just 40 seconds to score after that. "I made a bad decision," Haller said. "I tried to be careful coming up through the zone. I hooked him a little to get an advantage, but he's small enough that he's not going to stand strong in that situation." Svehla scored Florida's other power-play goal in the second period. Meanwhile, the Ducks continued to struggle with theirs on the road. They are now 0-for-17 in that category away from home. Last season, they led the NHL in power-play efficiently. "Everybody knows that we have a good power play, but we have to try to simplify things," said Anaheim left wing Paul Kariya. "At least we got some shots off tonight. The last couple of games, it seems like we haven't had any shots." Steve Rucchin scored with 6:16 left in the third period to tie the game for Anaheim. Pavel Trnka missed from the left point, but Rucchin knocked in the puck from in front. The Panthers (4-1-1) played without Pavel Bure and captain Scott Mellanby because of injuries suffered last Tuesday against Montreal. Bure, who has six points in four games, is out with a groin strain, and Mellanby is out with a concussion after slamming into the boards. "There was no letup whatsoever," Florida coach Terry Murray said. "We had energy, focus, and a "let's go get 'em' attitude. In my mind, we deserved the two points." The Panthers grabbed a 1-0 lead at 1:03 of the first period on Mark Parrish's goal from just outside the crease. Anaheim left wing Mike Leclerc tied the game on a wrist shot from the right circle at 2:21. Svehla's goal gave Florida a 2-1 lead at 8:01 of the second. "We have to be smart, make good decisions and give ourselves a chance to win the game," Ducks coach Craig Hartsburg said. "There were many ups and downs in this game, and we wound up giving it away because of our sloppy play with the puck."
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