Kariya Is Hoping to Play This Week

Winger Paul Kariya, recovering from an abdominal injury, said he might be fit enough to play against Vancouver on Wednesday.

“It’s possible,” he said. “Every day I’m improving. I felt awful [during Saturday’s practice] in terms of timing. My lungs felt pretty good. I think my conditioning is right there.”

Sunday, Kariya witnessed his first game since a 6-6 tie with Montreal on Oct. 7. He left the team for two weeks of intensive rehabilitation in Vancouver, his hometown, and returned to Anaheim last Thursday.

“I felt we outplayed them for at least half the game, but that [losing, 4-1] is what happens when you’re in a slump,” Kariya said. “It’s like, ‘Here we go again.’ ”

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More stupid Duck tricks: Yet another pregame stunt went awry. First, a skater dressed in a Calgary Flames’ jersey pretended to pour gas onto the nets.

Bad enough that the skit was performed as brush fires continue to rage around Southern California. But when a fire truck carrying Wild Wing attempted to race onto the ice to douse the flames, it became wedged along the dasher boards near the Zamboni entrance and was unable to move forward.

After a few moments, the truck was pushed back into the tunnel as a chorus of boos grew louder and louder.

Opening night’s pregame show was roundly booed and later called “too dark” and “a disaster” by Duck President Tony Tavares.

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Burly right wing Roman Oksiuta returned to the lineup after missing the past two games to be with his wife, Natalie, who delivered the couple’s second child Tuesday night.

The Ducks particularly missed Oksiuta on the power play. He was on the power-play unit Sunday, but the Ducks went scoreless on three chances. They have only one power-play goal in their last 38 opportunities.

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The crowd of 16,592 ended the Ducks’ streak of 40 consecutive sellouts at the Pond. The Ducks had sold out 90 of 93 games before Sunday.

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Defenseman Nikolai Tsulygin’s name was spelled “Tsuilgin” on his jersey during the first period. It was corrected with a piece of tape by the second. . . . Not in the lineup: Kariya, Valeri Karpov (concussion) and rookies Ruslan Salei and Barry Nieckar (both coach’s decisions).