Mighty Ducks Aren’t Off to a Flying Start in Opener

The Mighty Ducks still have never won a season-opener.

Never is only four years for them, of course, but nevertheless they started the season the way they didn’t want to Saturday, losing to Toronto, 4-1, in front of an opening-night crowd of 15,746 at Maple Leaf Gardens.

It doesn’t get easier any time soon, with four road games in the next six days and only three of the first 10 games at home.

“The first game is always tough, and it’s always tough to play here for some reason,” right wing Teemu Selanne said. “We had our chances but [Toronto goalie Felix] Potvin played really well and we had a couple of turnovers they scored on.”

Jari Kurri scored the Ducks’ only goal a little less than five minutes into the game, deflecting a power-play shot by Selanne in front of the net.

But the Ducks missed a passel of early chances, including breakaway opportunities by Kurri, Selanne and Oksiuta, and Toronto turned a tight 2-1 game into a blowout in the third by scoring twice in the final period.

“I think there was a lot more positive about this game than negative,” defenseman Bobby Dollas said. “Let’s face it, I’m not making excuses, but if Paul Kariya was playing, he might have knocked one in or something. When one of your best players is out, people need to step up and take the bull by the horns and say, ‘I’ll chip one in.’ I’m not saying they can score 50 goals, but maybe 15 or 20 instead of 10 or 15.”

Kariya, still rehabilitating from an abdominal muscle injury, is on the trip but isn’t practicing with the team yet. The best early guess is he’ll miss a week or two of the season, barring a setback.

The Ducks are shallow offensively without Kariya, but Kurri showed why he might be better as a Duck than he was as a King, setting up Selanne and Oksiuta for terrific opportunities on the first line and power play, as well as playing his usual all-around game.

“Jari played great,” Duck Coach Ron Wilson said. “He generates a lot of scoring chances, he kills penalties, he does an excellent job defensively. I think he’ll be a really good addition to our team.”

The Ducks didn’t look cohesive at times--probably because they had three players in the lineup who didn’t play with them during the exhibition season and only seven players who were Ducks a year ago.

Forwards Ted Drury and Kevin Todd played, even though they were acquired only this past week, and defenseman David Karpa missed the exhibition season because of a contract dispute.

“We had a little bit of jitters maybe,” Dollas said. “We have some younger guys and some guys who basically practiced one day and played--and one guy’s practice was a game-day skate.”

Defenseman Darren Van Impe, called up from the minors at the end of last season, lost the puck to Mike Craig behind the Ducks’ net in the first, enabling Craig to score the Maple Leafs’ first goal unassisted at 6:24 of the period for a 1-1 tie.

“Darren struggled but I don’t think it was lack of experience,” Wilson said. “Maybe it was first-night jitters.”

Toronto made the lead 2-1 at 11:48 of the first when Kirk Muller threw a cross-ice pass back to defenseman Dave Ellett coming down the left wing and Ellett skated in to beat Guy Hebert on the short side.

“No knock on Dave Ellett, but he’s not Paul Coffey,” Dollas said. “People come in and nobody picks them up. There’s a saying, ‘It’s never too late to get back.’ ”

It was Muller’s goal 10:22 into the third that turned the game, coming on a power play a couple of minutes after Selanne was unable to convert a pass from Kurri that arrived just as he drove to the net.

On the other end, with Van Impe off for hooking, Muller skated over the blue line without being harassed and let a shot fly that beat Hebert cleanly down low.

That made the score 3-1, and Wendel Clark’s rebound goal at 15:21 only served to clinch it.

“I was really disappointed,” Hebert said. “I’m not very happy with myself. I didn’t make the big saves here and there, and the third goal really dropped a little bit on me. It was a back-breaker.”

Hebert wasn’t as sharp as he was during the exhibition season after playing in the World Cup as the backup goalie for Team USA.

“I’m [upset] with myself because I’ve been working my butt off since the beginning of August to get ready for the start of the season,” Hebert said. “There are four games left on the trip. I’ve got to buckle down and get back to where I was.”

Wilson focused mostly on missed offensive opportunities.

“I know Guy can play better than that, but we’ve got to score more than one goal.”