Ducks Finally Beat a Good Team : Hockey: Hebert, Van Allen line sharp in 3-1 victory over Blackhawks.

The Mighty Ducks haven’t been able to beat many teams this season, and until Wednesday night they hadn’t beaten anyone nearly as good as the Chicago Blackhawks.

Chicago scored eight goals against the Kings on Tuesday, but the Blackhawks’ sticks didn’t have many goals left in them against the Ducks, who beat them, 3-1, in front of 17,174 at The Pond on Wednesday night.

Guy Hebert made 32 saves, shutting out Chicago until late in the third period, and a hard-working line centered by Shaun Van Allen with Stephan Lebeau and Todd Krygier on the wings scored all three Duck goals.

“Obviously we watched their game against the Kings,” Duck Coach Ron Wilson said. “We wanted to take away their time and space and put a little pressure on their key people, particularly their defense. Our trap worked very well and frustrated them. They had played back-to-back games and maybe were tired and started to feel sorry for themselves.”

The Ducks put together the kind of effort that was typical of last season, and they had a little flash too, with rookie Paul Kariya showing his skill.

It probably made the Ducks’ night just seeing Jimmy Waite in goal. Ed Belfour, the Blackhawks’ No. 1 goalie, has shut the Ducks out three times in six games. Waite was playing only his second game of the season.

It still took a steady defensive in front of Hebert, who made the kinds of stops the team has come to expect of him.

The victory, only the team’s third in the last 13 games, broke a three-game losing streak. Most important for the team’s confidence, it came against one of the best teams in the Western Conference.

The Blackhawks are 12-6-1. None of the other teams the Ducks have beaten this season--Winnipeg, Edmonton, the Kings and San Jose--have a winning record.

Krygier gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead at 11:22 of the first period when he held off Roger Johansson in the slot to get a shot off, beating Waite, who didn’t look good early, but settled in later.

The Van Allen line came through with two more goals in the second period. Lebeau found the rebound of a shot by Krygier after Van Allen won a faceoff and put it past Waite at 14:43. A few minutes later, it was Van Allen’s turn. He got the puck in the slot, picked a spot, and beat Waite on the stick side.

Hebert was called on to make some tough saves, but he played much the way he has over the past couple of weeks. In his last six games, he has stopped 173 of 184 shots.

He threatened to shut out the Blackhawks until Gary Suter beat him high with a shot from left of the slot at 16:36 of the third.

Duck Notes

Forward David Sacco, called up from San Diego on Tuesday, was in the lineup and played the point on the power play. He took the place of Anatoli Semenov, who was a healthy scratch. . . . The Ducks play five of their next six games on the road. The only home game in that stretch is March 9 against Detroit.