Ducks Beat Sharks, End Losing Streak : NHL: Valk scores twice in third period and Hebert looks sharp in goal as team gets a chance to stop making excuses for poor play.

The Mighty Ducks stopped pointing their fingers and used them to pick up their sticks and play hard Friday night.

They ended up slapping hands after a 4-2 victory over San Jose--a struggling team that blew them out 10 days ago. With that, the Ducks ended a five-game losing streak and eased the pressure that has been threatening to boil over in recent days.

“I was probably the most nervous guy in the building,” Duck Coach Ron Wilson said. “I wanted to win so bad. It was a pretty heroic performance.”

The Ducks still have won only three games in December, so the crisis isn’t over. But after giving up at least six goals in each of their last four games--including a 7-1 loss to the Kings on Wednesday--it was progress.

Friday night at the Pond, Garry Valk scored the go-ahead goal at 14:04 of the third when Paul Kariya fed him in the slot and Valk threw it toward the net. Valk added an empty-net goal with 19.5 seconds left.

“We showed a lot of character,” Valk said. “We were humiliated the last few games.”

The Ducks had trailed, 2-1, in the third until Bob Corkum and Todd Ewen got out ahead on a two-on-one and Corkum whipped a shot over a sliding defender and past goalie Chris Terreri to tie the score, 2-2, at 8:46.

The Ducks could have wilted after falling behind, 2-1, in the second when Owen Nolan scored after they had killed off all but 20 seconds of a five-minute San Jose power play. This time, they didn’t.

Duck goalie Guy Hebert, shaky of late, made 25 saves, many of them quite sharp, in his best recent performance. It came a day after Wilson offered what he called “constructive criticism” face to face, instead of veiled public criticism.

After the game, the Ducks didn’t need to look for excuses, a habit that hadn’t earned Wilson any points with his bosses recently.

“Our whole organization has used too many excuses,” Duck President Tony Tavares said during the game. “It’s the ice, it’s the refs, it’s the injuries. All those things are uncontrollable situations.

“Everyone has got to start holding themselves accountable for their own actions. To the extent that guys are blaming each other, blaming the coaches, they need to look in the mirror first. People need to start feeling personally responsible.

“The main issue is, we’re all in this together. It’s not about placing blame.”

Even so, Wilson is probably feeling the most heat he has in his three seasons. General Manager Jack Ferreira isn’t as quick to his defense as he was earlier this season.

“We’re not kidding ourselves. There’s problems,” Ferreira said before the game, though he wouldn’t elaborate, saying it’s not his policy to criticize publicly. “I talked to the coaches. They know what my position is.

“The coaches know my theories. There’s problems, things I don’t like.”

Management is clearly analyzing the situation, but for now is sticking to its organizational mantra: patience.

“If you could tell me what’s happening out there is totally the result of coaching, I’d make a coaching change,” Tavares said. “But I’m not convinced it is.

“We’re trying to analyze this situation. Once we think we have a pulse, we’ll take the appropriate action. Right now it’s too soon.”

Earlier this season, Ferreira praised Wilson in time of crisis and offered him a one-year extension. Though it’s still unsigned, “We’re not pulling any offers off the table,” Ferreira said. “They have a deal.”

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Duck Notes

Right wing Steven King, 26, played his first NHL game in nearly two years after recovering from reconstructive surgery on both shoulders. However, he was ejected in the second period when he received a slashing major for cutting San Jose defenseman Marcus Ragnarsson on the face. King hadn’t appeared in an NHL game since Feb. 2, 1994, but was called up Friday from minor-league affiliate Baltimore, where he had 15 goals and 23 points in 32 games. “He’s been playing hard, going to the net, doing a lot of the things that are the reason we drafted him originally,” Duck General Manager Jack Ferreira said. “He’s worked hard and done a good job. I know he was frustrated.” King took the place of left wing Denny Lambert, who was demoted to Baltimore even though he has a one-way contract, meaning the Ducks will pay his full $250,000 salary in the minors. . . . Attendance was 17,174.