Bure Scores Three, but Ducks Score None : Hockey: Vancouver star’s first hat trick of the season, McLean’s first shutout highlight 5-0 victory for the Canucks.

A little speed and skill can be a tantalizing thing. The Mighty Ducks have that now, but they still don’t have the ability to play with abandon against the Vancouver Canucks. And especially not against Pavel Bure.

Bure can be one of the NHL’s most exciting players--as well as one of the most exasperating--and the Vancouver fans got a dose of what they love about him on Tuesday, when Bure treated them to a hat trick in a 5-0 victory over the Ducks in front of 13,031 at Pacific Coliseum.

The Ducks were flying at times against the Canucks, but they couldn’t quite finish some of the chances they created--or get the puck past Vancouver goalie Kirk McLean, who made 25 saves for his first shutout of the season.

The Ducks had numerous two-on-ones and three-on-ones early and made some nice passes in the slot. But even though they created more chances than the Canucks in the first two periods, they trailed, 2-0.

Vancouver broke the game open in the third period, outshooting the Ducks, 17-3, and turning a controlled up-and-down game into a runaway. They also turned Duck goalie Guy Hebert into their shooting target.

“We were playing pretty well the first two periods,” forward Mike Sillinger said. “Then we basically just had a letdown. We can’t leave Guy hung out to dry like that. . . . There’s no reason for us to play the third the way we did.”

What Duck Coach Ron Wilson thought will have to be left to the imagination. He wouldn’t talk with reporters after the game.

Bure’s hat trick was the sixth of his career, but his first this season. It was the first time this season he has scored more than one goal in a game. After scoring 60 goals in each of the last two seasons, he has 16 in this shortened season, which began with him involved in a contract dispute and has been less than scintillating.

Bure scored the first goal of the game at 15:28 of the first when he first-timed a pass from Geoff Courtnall on a two-on-one power-play rush after the Ducks got caught trying to score.

Bure’s second goal came at 6:30 of the third period, when he put Vancouver ahead, 3-0, by waiting out Hebert in front of the net before easily putting the puck around him.

His third was a sniper’s shot from the slot at 9:36 of the third. And he had chances for a fourth goal and a fifth.

“The first two periods we played really well,” said the Ducks’ Patrik Carnback. “Then they got the third goal and we just quit.

“That kind of game, they’ve got much more talent than us. It fits them better than us.”

The Canucks also got a big contribution from new addition Russ Courtnall, acquired from Dallas last week. Courtnall had three assists. His brother Geoff had one.

Centered by Trevor Linden, they are being called the Option Line--not because their skill and speed creates so many options but because they all are in the option year of their contracts, and negotiations already are intense.

Duck Notes

The Ducks are seeking to have a game misconduct against defenseman Dave Karpa rescinded. The misconduct penalty was issued after the conclusion of the Ducks’ 5-1 victory over the Kings on Sunday following a scrum in front of the Kings’ net. . . . Forward Shaun Van Allen wore an assistant captain’s “A” on Tuesday night. One of the team’s three assistant captains, Todd Ewen, didn’t make the trip and another, Stu Grimson, has been traded.