Karpov Excels; Ducks Lose

There is more than one rookie on the Mighty Ducks who waited to sign until after playing in the Olympics at Lillehammer, but Valeri Karpov is not going to command as much attention as Paul Kariya.

Still, the right wing is having an outstanding exhibition season, and has stepped onto the first line with Kariya and Anatoli Semenov. Karpov, 23, the Ducks’ third-round pick in the 1993 draft, kept it up, scoring his second goal in four exhibition games as the Ducks lost to Boston, 3-2, before 16,368 Tuesday at The Pond of Anaheim.

Kariya, who has four points in four exhibitions, assisted on Karpov’s goal and created two late scoring chances as the Ducks tried to tie the score after John Gruden gave Boston the lead at 18:32 of the third period.

The Bruins, saying goodby to Boston Garden after this season, probably felt at home when the arena lights went out because of a power failure with 3:12 left in the first period, halting action in mid-play. The teams left the ice early for the first intermission, tacking the extra minutes onto the second period.

The Ducks led, 2-0, in the first after a goal by center Bob Corkum, assisted by Tim Sweeney. But Boston--whose lineup didn’t include Cam Neely, Adam Oates or Ray Bourque, who are on the trip but were scratched--tied the score with a second-period goal by Jozef Stumpel and a third-period goal by Don Sweeney.