Two Goals Are Relief for Corkum, Big Boost for Ducks : Hockey: Center, who had scored only three goals this season, gets two in 3-1 victory over Winnipeg.

To some people, the shortened NHL season must look like a sprint. To Mighty Duck center Bob Corkum, most of it has probably felt like the 20th mile of a marathon.

Corkum led the Ducks with 23 goals last season, but in the words of Duck Coach Ron Wilson, he has been “a shadow of himself” this season. Corkum had only three goals all season before he scored the Ducks’ first two goals Thursday in a 3-1 victory over Winnipeg at The Pond.

“It was a release, that’s for sure,” Corkum said. “No doubt I was frustrated. . . . I’m not going to be a 20-goal scorer every year. Maybe I was kidding myself thinking I was. All I’ve got to do is be a good forechecker, play defense, work hard.”

When he does that, the goals just come. Corkum gave the Ducks a lead only 1:03 into the game, then broke a 1-1 tie at 15:19 of the third period with his second of the game.

His first goal prompted a fist-pumping celebration, fueled by relief. When Joe Sacco set him up from behind the net for the game-winner, Corkum looked like his old self.

Garry Valk, who has also had a disappointing season, provided the final margin with an empty-net goal with 1:16 left after Jet goalie Tim Cheveldae was pulled for an extra attacker. It was only Valk’s second of the season.

For Corkum, everything that could go wrong has seemed to lately. Remember, it was Corkum who inexplicably dislodged the net in the final two minutes March 21 against the Kings, giving Dan Quinn the penalty shot that turned a near-victory into a 3-3 tie.

Corkum’s season was interrupted earlier when he missed four games in a row because of post-concussion syndrome, and he has never really hit his stride.

Wilson has taken him aside during practice recently, trying to counsel him. After all, he is one of the players the team wants to rely on in the long-term because they liked his combination of physical play, defense and scoring so much a year ago.

Corkum was the team’s representative to the union during the lockout, and he admits at times that he didn’t think there would be a season. When it finally began, he wasn’t in the best of shape.

“I said this to Corky the other day,” Wilson said. “A hockey season is like a marathon, and if you don’t prepare for it. . . . In the marathon he’s running, he sees the pack way ahead of him, and he can’t gain on them. A lot of times that gets frustrating. The important thing for Corkum and a lot of our players is to finish the race and not give up.”

Thursday night he didn’t give up, he came back.

“Tonight, he did everything,” Wilson said. “He battled, he was always in the right position, and he scored goals. He’s got to accept responsibility. He’s got to be accountable for his game. He’s been a shadow of his former self. He hasn’t been skating, he hasn’t been hitting.”

Corkum looked more like his old self against the Jets. His first goal came after Valeri Karpov got the puck deep in his zone and headmanned it up to Corkum, who held the puck, looked off the defenseman and instead of passing to Karpov snapped a shot into the top of the net.

Winnipeg tied the score, 1-1, at 11:15 of the first when Alexei Zhamnov worked a perfect two-on-one with Dallas Drake against the Ducks’ Dave Karpa.

Otherwise, the game wasn’t much to watch, especially for the first two periods. Winnipeg and Anaheim are the bottom two teams in the Western Conference, and both average fewer than three goals a game.

Duck goalie Guy Hebert was under siege early in the third, and had to make 15 of his 26 saves in the period--in part because his teammates weren’t doing a good job of clearing rebounds. They allowed a flurry of four attempts within seconds, with Hebert making three saves before the fourth shot went wide.

It was precisely the type of game the Ducks need to win if they want to climb out of last place, and their chance is now. This was the first of seven games in a row against the six teams directly above them in the Western Conference standings.

“This is where we find out if we’re going to fold the tent or try to jump up in the standings,” winger Peter Douris said.

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Duck Notes

Defenseman Tom Kurvers was back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch three games in a row, and he added poise to the power play. He took the place of rookie Oleg Tverdovsky. . . . There is interest among the Ducks in college hockey’s final four. Paul Kariya and Bob Corkum played at Maine, which beat Michigan, 4-3, in overtime on Thursday to advance to Saturday’s final against Boston University, which beat Minnesota, 7-3. Joe Sacco and General Manager Jack Ferreira played at Boston University.