Mighty rally seals Ducks' win vs. Blues

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Anaheim Mighty Ducks did something to the Blues that no other team has accomplished this season -- beat them in regulation after trailing through two periods.

Jason Krog and Niclas Havelid scored 6 1/2 minutes apart in the third for the Ducks en route to a 2-1 victory Sunday night. The Blues, who entered with the second-most goals per game in the NHL, were held to just 19 shots -- and just five over the final 20 minutes.

"It doesn't happen very often," Blues coach Joel Quenneville said. "I can't recall the last time we lost in regulation with a two-period lead. I think it was maybe on opening night last year in L.A. But we had a pretty good run, in that regard.

"They came at us early in the third, a couple of 2-on-1s, and they had us on the run a little bit. It was a tough loss. They got a power play at a critical time in the game."

Anaheim is 3-0 against the Blues after going 1-7 against them the previous two seasons. The Ducks have not allowed a third-period goal in five games.

"We have a strong defensive team," Krog said. "We had guys backchecking hard, giving them back pressure and not giving them any room to go east-west. They've got guys like Pavol Demitra and Keith Tkachuk who'll kill you if you give them space in-between the defensemen and the forwards, so we tried to give them as little space as we could,"

The Ducks, 7-2-1 in their last 10 at home, were heading toward their third 1-0 loss in five games before Krog tied it with 12:25 left.

Anaheim defenseman Keith Carney's one-timer from just inside the blue line caromed off the end boards and in front of the net, where Patric Kjellberg and Steve Rucchin both fanned on it before Krog swatted the puck past goaltender Brent Johnson's glove for his fifth goal and third in two games.

The winning goal came after a costly penalty against Alexander Khavanov for high-sticking Dan Bylsma. Havelid's 55-foot shot from between the circles deflected off St. Louis defenseman Bryce Salvador and past Johnson's left skate with 5:55 remaining.

"It's unfortunate that they had to score the winning goal on a power play," Blues captain Al MacInnis said. "A lot of times you get frustrated out there when the refereeing gets a little inconsistent. But at the same time, when you go into the third period with a one-goal lead, you should be able to close the deal."

Havelid's goal was his eighth, one more than he had in the previous three seasons combined.

"He was given the opportunity to play on the power play right off the bat, and I think that gave him a lot of confidence," Anaheim goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere said. "A confident player is one who's going to play well, get points and do what he has to do."

Demitra, who lost all six faceoffs he took in the first period, opened the scoring at 12:22 of the second with his 15th goal. He redirected Scott Mellanby's pass by Giguere after Cory Stillman batted down an attempted clearing pass by defenseman Ruslan Salei at the Anaheim blue line.

The Blues lost Mellanby for the final 15:56 of the first period because of a bruised neck. The injury occurred during his second shift, when Tkachuk checked Rucchin into Mellanby as they battled for the puck in the right corner of the Ducks' zone.

It was worse for Petr Cajanek, who injured his left leg with 6:40 left in the second period and did not return. The Blues center collided behind the Anaheim net with Vitaly Vishnevski, who pulled Cajanek down from behind after jumping to avoid his check.

When asked if Vishnevski's play was a clean one, Quenneville said. "I'll reserve judgment on that one. Petr's going to be out for a while. The X-rays showed he got a fractured fibula."

Notes: The Blues lost two other games after taking a lead into the third period -- both in overtime. ... Anaheim's March 26 game against San Jose has been shifted to March 13 because of scheduling conflicts with the NCAA basketball West Regional. It will be the fourth set of home games on consecutive nights in franchise history, and the first since Dec. 21-22, 1997. ... The Ducks entered averaging the same number of goals (2.5) and shots on net (28.2) as their opponents. ... Paul Kariya, who had a season-high five points against the Blues in a 5-2 victory on Dec. 18 in Anaheim, has not scored in 10 straight games.