Sunday, January 09, 2000
Hartford 1, Mighty Ducks 0
BY JOHN P. WISE
Enquirer contributor
The Norelco commercial where a hockey player punches his team's mascot features the American Hockey League's Hartford Wolfpack. It was Hartford who beat the Mighty Ducks by a whisker Saturday night at the Gardens, 1-0.
Cincinnati fell to 15-15-6-2.
Hartford's Brad Smyth, who played for the IHL's Cincinnati Cyclones in the 1990s, scored the game's only goal in the third period. His wrist shot from the left circle beat Ducks goalie Gregg Naumenko and left the home team reeling in its sixth straight loss.
“It's frustrating because every night I come to the rink and I know we can win,” Ducks right wing Frank Banham said. “We have a lot of talented players here, and when we're doing what we're supposed to be doing, I don't think too many teams can beat us.”
The scoreless first two periods weren't without incident. A few bouts required 68 penalty minutes to be assessed in the first 40 minutes. Lloyd Shaw's instigation, roughing and fighting penalties all at once earned him 17 minutes alone for Cincinnati. That gave him the all-time Ducks lead with 413 penalty minutes in his two-plus years. The occasion helped him surpass current Duck Peter LeBoutillier's 401 career minutes.
Shaw and Banham each drew iron with shots in the middle period. “We had some chances to score, but we didn't do a good job of finishing,” Ducks coach Moe Mantha said.
The effort was better than Friday's game, when the Ducks yielded six first-period goals in an 8-2 loss to Hershey. Still, Cincinnati continues to fall behind the rest of the Mid-Atlantic Division. In last place, the Ducks have been stuck on 38 points since Dec. 27, and trail third-place Philadelphia and Hershey by seven points.
Hartford ....... 0 0 1—1
Cincinnati ....... 0 0 0—0
First period: None.
Second period: None.
Third period: Her, Smyth 21 (Armstrong) 11:02.
Shots on goal: Har 9-9-7=25; Cin 11-10-5=26. Goalies: Har, Hnilicka (26 saves); Cin, Naumenko (25). Power plays: Har 0-for-3; Cin 0-for-6. Attendance: 7,036.
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