Ducks Winning but Gaining Little Ground

The two highest-scoring hockey players left in Southern California both work in Anaheim, and the Mighty Ducks seem to have everything they need to make the playoffs--except perhaps time.

The Ducks’ 5-2 victory over Montreal on Wednesday at the Pond was their fifth in nine games with Teemu Selanne in the lineup. Some games Selanne leads the way; this time it was Paul Kariya, who a few weeks ago was the Ducks’ only dangerous scorer.

Kariya scored two goals--his 35th and 36th of the season--and added an assist as the Ducks finished a two-game season sweep of the Canadiens.

Nevertheless, they didn’t gain ground on the Winnipeg Jets, who remain five points ahead of the Ducks in the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot. The Ducks are tied with the Kings and Edmonton for ninth.

“The key thing is how bad it was a month and a half ago, and now we’re five points out,” winger Todd Krygier said. “With Teemu and Paul, you can be down a goal or two and always have hope.

“Not that we didn’t have hope before, but we know even more so that one of those two guys can come through.”

The Ducks have a one-two scoring punch where they used to have only Kariya’s jabs. Both are among the NHL’s top 15 scorers and both on their way to 100-point seasons--on a team that had never had more than a 52-point scorer before this season.

The departure of Wayne Gretzky is turning the spotlight on Selanne and Kariya along with the rest of the Ducks, but Coach Ron Wilson is shielding his eyes.

“I don’t care about what happens up the 405,” he said. “Our focus is on Winnipeg. We have to help ourselves. Playing .500 isn’t going to do it.”

But the departure of the NHL’s all-time leading scorer is hard to ignore.

“Personally, I think it really helps us,” Duck defenseman Bobby Dollas said. “With Wayne, every time they played us, he always turned it up. They’re still a good hockey team, but Wayne for them was like Teemu and Paul are for us. You’re never out of it until the buzzer sounds.”

Selanne and Kariya clicked on a five-on-three power play in the third period for Kariya’s 36th goal of the season.

With Montreal’s Vincent Damphousse sent off for the rest of the game with a five-minute major and game misconduct for slashing David Karpa in the face, and Mark Recchi in the box for slashing, the Ducks made good on the two-man advantage. Selanne zipped a pass to Kariya through the narrow opening between goalie Jocelyn Thibault and defenseman Pete Popovic and Kariya made good on the chance.

The Ducks jumped ahead, 2-0, in the first period, but let Montreal get back to 2-2 by 6 1/2 minutes into the second.

Steve Rucchin, one of the team’s best players when the Ducks were at their best in November, had scored only two goals in 20 games since returning from a knee injury. But he outmuscled the Montreal defense in front of the net to put in the rebound of Krygier shot at 6:47 of the first.

Kariya scored his 35th of the season at 18:17 of the first period after Joe Sacco picked up a loose puck deflected by Alex Hicks and sent it ahead to Kariya, who made a deft little move and lifted the puck over Jocelyn Thibault.

Montreal, which hasn’t won a road game in the two weeks, pulled back into a 2-2 tie after Martin Rucinsky and Andrei Kovalenko scored.

Later in the second, the Ducks’ Mike Sillinger, who recently went 23 games without a goal, scored his second in three games on a play that was either a brilliant pass from Kariya or brilliant luck. With the Ducks on a power play, Kariya unleashed what looked like a slap shot from the point, but it went left of the goal to Sillinger, who skated in and beat Thibault on the short side.

That gave the Ducks a 3-2 lead at 10:54 of the second, and Dollas made it 4-2 at 13:13 with a shorthanded goal assisted by Krygier and Shaun Van Allen, who pried the puck loose along the boards.

Duck Notes

Wayne Gretzky is gone, but Duck Coach Ron Wilson believes--or hopes--that hockey is entrenched in Southern California. “It’s not like because Wayne left it’s going to go back to being a hockey desert again,” Wilson said. “Hockey is certainly not dead here; it’s growing. . . . I know how star-conscious Southern California is. Taking away the brightest star, I hope that doesn’t take away the fans. We’re poised with Teemu [Selanne] and Paul [Kariya]. We have two of the brightest up-and-coming stars in the game.” . . . Ex-Duck Robert Dirk, who broke his shoulder Jan. 22 in his first game after being traded to Montreal, has played one game since the injury but will sit out another 10 days to fully recover. “What can you do? It was bad luck, bad timing,” Dirk said. . . . Right wing Jim Campbell, acquired in exchange for Dirk, has appeared in 11 games, scoring three points.