Krygier Gets Real Shot With the Mighty Ducks : Hockey: Former Capital figures in both goals in Anaheim’s 2-1 exhibition victory at The Pond.

Todd Krygier somehow fell so far out of the Washington Capitals’ plans last February that they traded him to the Mighty Ducks for no more than a fourth-round draft pick.

Maybe it helped that Washington General Manager David Poile is a friend of Duck GM Jack Ferreira, because it was a deal for the Ducks.

Krygier not only found a place on his new team, he was the Ducks’ second-leading goal-scorer last season, and now he has a place on a talent-rich line with left wing Paul Kariya and rookie center Chad Kilger.

Facing his former teammates for the first time Wednesday, Krygier assisted Kilger on a second-period power-play goal and fed Kariya on a two-on-one in the third period of the Ducks’ 2-1 exhibition victory over the Capitals in front of a paid crowd of 16,391 at The Pond.

Kilger, 18, the fourth pick in the NHL draft in July, continued his strong bid to make the team. He has two goals and an assist in two exhibition games.

Duck goalie Guy Hebert, making his first appearance of the exhibition season, shut out the Capitals until Sylvain Cote scored at 17:48 of the third period.

Krygier scored 11 goals and 11 assists for the Ducks in 35 games last season.

Now he has worn an “A” on his jersey the first two exhibition games, meaning he’s an assistant captain. But the important thing to Krygier is the chance to play an offensive role and not just skate up and down his wing, worrying about defense.

“I don’t have bitter feelings for Washington,” he said. “I couldn’t be happier. I have an opportunity to play and prove people were wrong about me.”

He also has a chance to play with two young talents.

“We have a lot of talented players, but obviously Paul is very creative, and Chad is going to be a strong, dominant player in this league.”

The Ducks have a 1-1 preseason record. Washington is 1-2.

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The herky-jerky flow of the Ducks’ second exhibition game was again the result of the NHL crackdown on restraining fouls. This time there were 23 penalties, 11 of them on various obstruction calls.

Jim Christison, supervisor of officials at the game, emphasized that, “We’re not going to let up,” and said referees will make the same calls from Game 1 of the season to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Krygier, with his speed, is one of the players who likes the new rule enforcement.

“It should help our team because we’re fast,” he said. “As long as we get our power play going and keep killing penalties we’ll be OK.”

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Defenseman Nikolai Tsulygin, the Ducks’ second-round pick in their first draft in 1993, was sent to minor league-affiliate Baltimore as the roster was reduced to 37. Management remains disappointed by his decision to play in Russia last season instead of playing in the U.S. and adjusting to the culture.

“He was disappointed, because he almost made the team last year,” said assistant general manager Pierre Gauthier. “But he’s got to learn English.” Tsulygin struggled in his only exhibition game, partly because he didn’t understand instructions regarding the new rules enforcement.

The other cuts were defenseman Alain Deeks, goalie Mike O’Neill, wingers Jeremy Stevenson and Peter Leboutillier, who was a sixth-round pick in July and has agreed to a multiyear contract.

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Ron Tugnutt, who was half of the Ducks’ No. 1 and 1-A goaltending tandem during their first season, signed a one-year free-agent contract with the Capitals on Wednesday.

Tugnutt, 28, will be Washington goalie Jim Carey’s backup, a role similar to the one he held in Montreal behind Patrick Roy the last season and a half.

Tugnutt had a career-best 3.00 goals-against average with Ducks during the 1993-94 season, sharing the goaltending job with Guy Hebert before he was traded to Montreal for Stephan Lebeau.