Canucks’ Bure Burns the Ducks : Hockey: Anaheim comes up empty, 5-0, as playoff race tightens in the NHL’s Western Conference.

A little speed and skill can be a tantalizing thing. The Mighty Ducks have that now, but they still don’t have the game 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 three goals 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 a bundle of two-on-ones and three-on-ones early and made some nice passes in the slot. But even though the Ducks had more scoring chances than the Canucks over the first two periods, they were behind, 2-0.

Then 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. That’s B.S. . . . 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’s 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 is at 16 in this shortened season--which for him began with 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 one-times 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 didn’t come until 6:30 of the third period, when he put Vancouver ahead, 3-0, by outwaiting 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 a chance for his fourth goal and his 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 Russ Courtnall, acquired from Dallas last week. Courtnall had three assists, and his brother Geoff had one.

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

Notes

Defenseman Bobby Dollas missed the game because of the aftereffects of a concussion suffered when the Kings’ Marty McSorley connected with an elbow to his head with 23 seconds left in the Ducks’ 5-1 victory Sunday. The Ducks have sent a tape of the incident to the NHL seeking supplementary discipline. The Ducks believe it was an attempt to injure and “an attempt to set the tone for next game,” said Duck Coach Ron Wilson, who said McSorley’s hit was “uncalled for” and “ridiculous.” Added Wilson: “Hopefully we’ll get the proper response.” The Ducks also are seeking to have a game misconduct against defenseman Dave Karpa rescinded. The misconduct penalty was issued after the game following a scrum in front of the King net. . . . Forward Shaun Van Allen wore an assistant captain’s “A.” One of the team’s three assistant captains, Todd Ewen, didn’t make the trip and another assistant, Stu Grimson, has been traded. . . . Referee Dan Marouelli injured his knee in the first period and linesman Randy Mitton took over for the final two periods.