Ducks Dismantle the Devils : Hockey: Balanced scoring is key to Anaheim’s 6-1 victory, its record fifth in a row at home.

How in the devil do you explain the Mighty Ducks?

Jacques Lemaire, coach of the defending Stanley Cup champions, was left to ponder that Sunday after his New Jersey Devils became the fourth team in a row to be dismantled by the Ducks, who were 2-8 a little more than a week ago.

With a 6-1 victory in front of 17,174 at The Pond, the Ducks have dispatched the last two Stanley Cup champions in succession, mowing down New Jersey and the Rangers, and St. Louis and Calgary by a combined score of 23-7.

“This could definitely be our finest hour,” said left wing Garry Valk, who got out on a shorthanded breakaway to give the Ducks a 3-1 lead late in the second period.

“I think we love playing at home this year,” said Valk, whose team is 5-2 in Anaheim. “It’s unbelievable. Once a team gets hot and feels good in a certain building, it carries over.”

The five-game winning streak at home is a franchise record, and the Ducks have won four in a row overall for the first time in almost two years, tying the record they set on a four-game swing through western Canada, Nov. 19-24, 1993.

“I know they have some pretty good hockey players on the other side, but this is not Mario Lemieux,” said a frustrated Lemaire after the game. “What they do is they play well as a team. They play like we did last year.”

Lemaire said his players looked tired after beating the Kings the night before. The Ducks took full advantage, beating the Devils on rushes and lighting up the scoreboard against one of the best defensive teams in the NHL.

“We were patient and confident above all,” Duck Coach Ron Wilson said.

New Jersey scored first--and second--although the second goal was wiped out in a quirk unique to the NHL. It wasn’t until Ken Daneyko appeared to score at 9:59 of the first period that officials ruled the Devils had actually scored more than a minute earlier when Steve Thomas’ shot went through a hole in the net undetected. Play continued, but rules allow video review, and video goal judge Michael Voyer told referee Stephen Walkom when play stopped again that Thomas had scored. So that goal went up on the scoreboard, and Daneyko’s apparent goal was wiped out as the clock was reset to 8:40.

“Our key tonight was we got a break: They scored two goals and got credit for one, and we took advantage of it,” Valk said.

Paul Kariya showed the form that is leaving much of the NHL in his wake, tying the score 1-1 at 6:43 of the second with his 11th goal of the season. Kariya looked off Daneyko on a two-on-one and then wristed a shot past goalie Martin Brodeur. Kariya also had two assists, giving him his third three-point game of the season, and 18 points in 14 games.

Midway through the second, Kariya sent Shaun Van Allen and Patrik Carnback out on a two-on-one with a nifty pass, and Van Allen kept the puck for what proved to be the game-winner. Van Allen’s goal did in Brodeur, who was pulled for Chris Terreri.

Defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky, right wing Mike Sillinger and rookie center Chad Kilger scored in the third. Tverdovsky scored his first goal of the season, a hard slap shot on a Kariya feed on a three-on-two.

The Ducks are finally getting balanced scoring, and the revival of such veterans as Valk, Bob Corkum and Joe Sacco has the team on a roll.

“There might have been 20 or 21 guys in the locker room not playing to their ability, including myself, but we stuck together,” said goalie Guy Hebert, who has a .928 save percentage over the last five games.

“For a while, you didn’t know if the guy next to you was going to be there tomorrow or if the guys on the coaching staff were going to be here tomorrow,” Hebert said. “If we kept losing, you felt something was going to happen.”

But Hebert and Valk said management’s decision to offer Wilson an extension eased the tension.

“I tell you what, we’re real excited,” Valk said. “We thought we played well early in the season, but we struggled and you start doubting yourselves. The organization stuck with Ron and said they’d re-do his contract and he stuck with all of us. The patience of the organization is paying off.”

* MIKE PENNER

Ducks give other teams plenty to think about after beating the Rangers and Devils. C15