Ducks Peak in Toppling Avalanche : Hockey: Kariya and rookie Hicks each score two goals to lead the charge in 7-3 victory.

The Colorado Avalanche came into The Pond on Wednesday with the best record in the Western Conference and a 10-game unbeaten streak.

They also came in fresh off a few days of golf at a Rancho Santa Fe resort, perhaps getting in a little too much R and R before getting ripped by the Ducks, 7-3, in front of 17,174.

It was Colorado’s first loss in a month and only its fourth of the season.

“I don’t think it was the vacation. It comes down to mental preparation and a number of people weren’t ready tonight,” said Colorado Coach Marc Crawford, whose team hadn’t lost since Oct. 14 against St. Louis. “We have to give the Ducks credit. It shows if you come out prepared and work hard, you can win. . . . If you try to just rely on your talent and don’t work, you’re going to lose. If they’re not embarrassed by this performance, I don’t know if they can be.”

The Ducks didn’t look like the same team Colorado beat last month.

“We came out flying,” said defenseman Bobby Dollas. “I think we beat one of the best teams in the league. We showed not just this team but every team in the league that you have to play hard against the Ducks because we’re playing great right now.”

Paul Kariya had scored two goals nine minutes seven seconds after the opening faceoff. His 14th goal of the season came 1:31 into the game when Steve Rucchin dug the puck out of the corner on a power play and sent it to Kariya as he cruised down the slot.

Kariya made it 2-0 after Shaun Van Allen chased down the puck in the open ice, pulled up with a defender on him and fed it to Kariya as he sped down the middle. Kariya picked a spot over Jocelyn Thibault’s left shoulder for his 15th goal.

Kariya is obliterating his pace of last season, when he had five goals and 11 points after 19 games. This season, he has 15 goals and 26 points at the same point. He also has tied a club record with a nine-game point streak.

He had chances for a third goal but was foiled by Thibault on a good chance from close range and later when he stole the puck from a defenseman but shot it into Thibault’s glove.

The Ducks also got a standout performance from left wing Alex Hicks, who at 26 was playing in his first NHL game. He finished with two goals and an assist.

“That’s the best team in the league besides Florida, and any time you beat a first-place team, that’s unbelievable,” Hicks said. “It gives you a boost of confidence, and we’ve already beaten good teams this year in the Rangers, the Devils and Montreal.”

After Hicks scored on the first shot of his first NHL game at 12:25, the Ducks led, 3-0, and the Avalanche players were barely awake.

“They looked pretty rusty around the edges, especially the first period,” Duck Coach Ron Wilson said.

Scott Young got Colorado back into the game with two goals in the first 5:45 of the second period. Young made it, 3-2, when he stole the puck from Kariya in Colorado’s zone and then raced to the other end and beat Mikhail Shtalenkov with a shot that hit Shtalenkov’s arm, then eluded him and fell into the net.

Shtalenkov’s start was his first since Oct. 26 and broke a streak of nine starts in a row by Guy Hebert, who has been hot but needed to rest “bumps and bruises,” Wilson said.

Shtalenkov has been better, but with the Ducks’ barrage, it didn’t matter.

Bob Corkum expanded the Ducks’ edge to two goals later in the second, and after Colorado’s Adam Foote trimmed it to one, the Ducks’ Todd Krygier made it 5-3 when Peter Douris’ neutral-zone pass sent him out on a breakaway and he beat Thibault.

“The fifth goal was huge going into the third period,” Wilson said.

Duck Notes

Rookie center Chad Kilger was a healthy scratch for the second time this season and rookie Alex Hicks grabbed his spot in the lineup with his performance. “I’m just learning,” said Kilger, 18. “They feel maybe it will help if I sit out a game or so. You don’t like to sit out, but it’s part of the learning experience. Oleg [Tverdovsky] did it a fair amount last year. He’s talked to me about it. He says it’s tough at first, but you’ve just got to learn.” . . . Center Shaun Van Allen went to the hospital for X-rays on his right thumb after being checked into the boards in the third period by Sylvain Lefebvre, who received a five-minute major for boarding. . . . Defenseman Milos Holan posted a message in the dressing room after teammates and team employees were tested as potential marrow donors Tuesday. “Thanks everybody for blood testing--#7.” Holan has a slow-progressing form of leukemia and needs a marrow transplant.

* HICKS CLICKS

Ducks rookie Alex Hicks has two goals in his NHL debut. C15