Ducks’ Blue-Collar Line Trips Chicago : Hockey: Anaheim breaks three-game losing streak by beating Blackhawks, 3-1.

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 much left in them against the Ducks, who won, 3-1, in front of 17,174 at The Pond.

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.

“Of course it was a great game for our line, but this was a big team win,” said Lebeau, who had a goal and two assists, as did both his linemates.

The victory, only the team’s third in the last 13 games, broke a three-game losing streak. More 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 or San Jose--has a winning record.

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

Their much-maligned penalty-killers shut down the best power-play in the NHL, holding the Blackhawks scoreless in three opportunities.

Hebert made the kinds of stops the team has come to expect of him, coming up big with 13 third-period saves.

The Ducks’ neutral-zone trap helped frustrate the Blackhawks, who had reason to be weary after the pace of Tuesday’s game.

“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.”

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.

Van Allen’s line, which combines his and Krygier’s grit with finesse from Lebeau, has been one of the team’s best since Wilson put the three together about a week and a half ago. They are particular adept at playing the trap, perhaps in part because Lebeau and Krygier both played it with their previous teams.

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 badly. Waite didn’t look good early, but settled in later.

Still, the Ducks had too many good chances to have only a one-goal lead, and it was hard not to imagine the Blackhawks coming back, as Calgary did to beat Anaheim on Sunday.

The Van Allen line came through with two more goals in the second period, though. 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 from Lebeau and Krygier 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 weeks. In his last six games, he has stopped 173 of 184 shots.

He threatened to get his fourth career shutout until late in the third period, when Gary Suter beat him high with a shot from left of the slot at 16:36.

Chicago had nearly scored a goal in the first period. Brent Sutter crashed the net chasing a rebound, and the puck went into the net with Sacco riding Sutter into the crease. The goal went up on the scoreboard, but referee David Jackson disallowed it after video-goal judge Michael Voyer decided Sutter directed the puck in with his skate.

That was only one of a number of things that didn’t go Chicago’s way.

“Until now, I think they had our number,” Lebeau said.

Duck Notes

Forward David Sacco, called up from San Diego 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. Left wing Tim Sweeney was also a healthy scratch and right wing Todd Ewen sat out with a sore groin. . . . The Ducks play five of their next six games on the road. The only home game in that stretch is March 9 against Detroit. . . . There are new starting times for the April 2 home game against San Jose and the April 9 game against the Kings. Both are at 3 p.m.