Practice Makes Perfect Ducks

Guy Hebert is back to his old self, Alex Hicks is better than anybody ever thought he could be and Steven King scored a goal he thought he might never see.

The Mighty Ducks, in dire circumstances a week and a half ago, have a three-game unbeaten streak after defeating the Calgary Flames, 3-1, Friday night in front of 16,821 at the Saddledome in the first game of a six-game trip.

Hebert, whose head was spinning as pucks went past him most of last month, has put together three strong performances and shut out the Flames until midway through the third period.

“I had a very comfortable feeling, not that they weren’t going to score, but that I was seeing the puck,” said Hebert, who made 38 saves, 22 in the third period. “We’re real fortunate to have a good start to this long road trip. We had four days of tough practice this week after a couple of horrendous games at home last month. Our hard work paid off.”

Hicks, a Calgary native who was never drafted, scored two goals in an arena where he has probably watched 100 games, wishing he could play for the Flames. Signed last summer after three seasons in the minors, he’s playing on the Ducks’ first line.

“It’s been great,” said Hicks, who has been centering Paul Kariya and Garry Valk the past three games. “He’s one of the best players in the world right now, and he makes you so much better. He makes you twice the player you are. Playing with him is unbelievable.”

Hicks had the longest road to the NHL, but King has had the longest road back. At 26, he has come back from reconstructive surgery on both shoulders.

“It’s just nice to get an NHL goal. I didn’t know if I’d ever get a chance to get another,” said King, whose last NHL goal was Jan. 19, 1994. “It came exactly one year from my last surgery, Jan. 5 last year.”

In a defensive game, neither team managed double digits in shots in either of the first two periods. But the Ducks took a 1-0 lead seven minutes into the second when Hicks put a rebound of Oleg Tverdovsky’s shot into a nearly open net past Calgary goalie Trevor Kidd. Tverdovsky assists on all three Duck goals.

King made the score 2-0 at 11:01 when he deflected Kariya’s shot on a power play. Kariya had two assists in the game.

Hicks scored his second goal of the game and sixth of the season at 7:25 of the third then he kept the puck and beat Kidd after Tverdovsky sent him out on a two-on-one with a perfect pass.

With the Ducks ahead, 3-0, Phil Housley ended Hebert’s shutout bid at 10:34, but Hebert staved off the rest of Calgary’s shots, including the final 1:03 after Calgary pulled Kidd for an extra attacker.

“Guy’s playing great now,” Duck Coach Ron Wilson said.

Hebert praised the team’s renewed attention to defense.

“I just feel more confident,” he said. “I didn’t think [my slump] was going to last forever. If it did, I wouldn’t be playing much, and you know I wouldn’t like that.”

The Ducks, injury-plagued most of December, welcomed back center Shaun Van Allen, who missed seven weeks because of thumb surgery.

“We’re coming out of our injuries and just having Shaun Van Allen back, seeing how well he played in our end and going out and killing penalties. . . “ Wilson said. “It’s encouraging.”

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Duck Notes

Paul Kariya figures to be the Ducks’ representative to the All-Star game when the reserves are announced next week. But the NHL hasn’t announced who will replace Vancouver’s Pavel Bure, who won a starting spot despite being out with a knee injury. Kariya finished third among wingers, trailing Brett Hull and Bure. . . . Johan Davidsson, 20, the Ducks’ second-round pick in the 1994 draft, was one of six players named to the all-tournament team at the World Junior Championships in Boston. General Manager Jack Ferreira called the playmaking forward “one of our top prospects, if not our top prospect” and said the team will try to sign him this summer.