Improved Ducks Set Sights on the Playoffs and Beyond

With General Manager Jack Ferreira’s make-over complete, the Mighty Ducks began their sprint for the playoffs Sunday.

Ducks? Sprinting? Playoffs?

Indeed. Gone are the lumbering Ducks, those plodding, clutch-and-grabbers who won with grit rather than talent.

Meet the new Ducks--younger, more skillful and yet still tough in the corners.

Even if the Ducks fall short of the playoffs, which remains likely, the team that took the ice Sunday showed the future could be filled with eye-catching, winning performances.

The sellout crowd of 17,174 at The Pond watched defenseman Milos Holan score 22 seconds into the Ducks’ 5-1 victory over the Kings.

Later, Paul Kariya worked a superb give-and-go with Todd Krygier to score on a backhander from the slot. Joe Sacco sliced in from the right wing to score and Krygier added two insurance goals, swatting home a rebound and then unleashing a slap shot from the top of the right circle that beat King goaltender Kelly Hrudey.

Four of the Ducks’ five goals came from players who weren’t on the roster last season, with three from players who joined the team after this year’s start.

Kariya, who scored his team-leading 14th goal, gets the bulk of the attention, but with Holan, Krygier, David Karpa (two assists), Mike Sillinger (one assist) and Jason York (two assists), Ferreira has changed the Ducks’ look for the better.

Kariya is a rookie of the year candidate and the others have come to the Ducks via trades in the past two months.

“They have some players who can really fly and take the puck to the net and do things they couldn’t do in the past,” said Hrudey, who faced 33 shots. “They’re a team you can’t underestimate.”

After stumbling out of the blocks in a 2-0 loss to Dallas hours after Friday’s trading deadline passed, the new Ducks hammered the Kings.

In particular, Karpa and Krygier proved impossible for the Kings to handle, and for far different reasons.

In addition to his assists, Karpa played his role as designated pest to the hilt, goading Wayne Gretzky into a slashing penalty in the first period.

“I kind of interfered with (Gretzky), then he gave me a poke in the legs,” said Karpa, acquired last month from Quebec after the Kings traded for him, but decided his injured right wrist wasn’t sound and asked the league to invalidate the trade.

“I knew he wasn’t going to come after me. I was worried about other guys besides Wayne.”

Krygier handled the finesse angle for the Ducks, putting together his fourth multiple-point game since his trade from Washington Feb. 2. A groin strain that recently sidelined him three games has healed, Krygier said. Now, he’s turned his attention to other matters.

“It’s the responsibility of players with playoff experience, like myself, and of the older players to pick up the slack,” he said. “Every game is important now because we expect to make the playoffs. To be honest, I don’t know if we will or not, but I fully expect to make them.”