The Associated Press

ANAHEIM, Calif. - The Florida Panthers caught the Anaheim Mighty Ducks with too many men and too many hats on the ice.

Kristian Huselius scored with 14 seconds left in the third period and Valeri Bure had three assists as the Panthers capitalized on a disallowed goal and tied the Ducks 4-4 Sunday.

Steve Rucchin scored twice for the Mighty Ducks and nearly had his first NHL three-goal game but his backhander that beat Jani Hurme on a breakaway with 13:12 remaining was disallowed because Anaheim had too many men on the ice.

A couple dozen hats came cascading down from the crowd of 13,254, who booed when the goal was waved off.

"It was very strange, no question about it," said Rucchin, who scored twice in the first period against Roberto Luongo. "It was a huge turning point, obviously, but what are you going to do? I'd like to see it happen to somebody else.

"I feel bad for the people who lost their hats. I wouldn't be too thrilled to lose my hat for nothing. I guess they'll have to take that up with the refs."

The Panthers capitalized with 23 seconds left on the ensuing power play, as Niklas Hagman beat Jean-Sebastien Giguere to make it 4-3 with 11:36 left.

"He brings energy to our line," Olli Jokinen said. "He's a good goal scorer and he fits in well with us. It was good to come back from two goals down. We didn't play great for 40 minutes, but we played well in the third."

With Hurme off for an extra attacker, Bure threw a cross-ice pass to Sandis Ozolinsh, whose one-timer was tipped past Giguere by Huselius. It forced the Panthers into overtime for an NHL-high 13th time.

Stephane Matteau and Marcus Nilson also scored for the Panthers, who are winless in eight games - including two overtime losses and five ties.

Andy McDonald and Kevin Sawyer also scored for the Ducks. Keith Carney had two assists. It was the fifth time Anaheim took a lead into the third period under rookie coach Mike Babcock and either tied or lost.

"We played well, but we couldn't hold onto the lead - and that's not good," Rucchin said. "You have to give them credit for sticking with it and coming back."

The Ducks failed to score despite a five-on-three advantage they had for 1 minute, 46 seconds of the second period. But Sawyer made it 4-2, banging home a rebound of Patric Kjellberg's short backhander at 18:26 of the period for his third goal in 101 NHL games.

Rucchin opened the scoring 3:26 in. The puck bounced off the skate of Florida defenseman Jay Bouwmeester to Rucchin, whose shot from a sharp angle bounced off the left side of the net and then off Luongo's right pad.

After Matteau's goal tied it midway through the first, Anaheim regained the lead just lead just 46 seconds later when Rucchin converted a rebound of Carney's shot from the left point for his seventh goal. That matched his total from last season when he was limited to 38 games because of a broken leg.

At that point, Florida coach Mike Keenan replaced Luongo with Hurme.

"We wanted to change the momentum, and it was an appropriate time to do it," Keenan said. "We were a little sluggish at the start, but we stuck with it and it paid off."

Notes

Rucchin's two-goal game was his 14th in 474 NHL games. ... Florida's fourth straight overtime game tied the longest streak in club history and put the Panthers within one of the NHL mark. ... The only other time this season that Anaheim scored three first-period goals was Oct. 26 at Edmonton. ... The Panthers, who entered the NHL with Anaheim in 1993-94, lead the series 8-4-3. ... Florida and Anaheim share the record for victories by a first-year team with 33, but the Ducks haven't had more than 36 in any season since. ... Anaheim was 1-for-26 on the power play in last six meetings with the Panthers. ... The Panthers have scored two first-period goals in each of their last four games, after totaling only two the previous six contests.