Ducks’ 3-1 Win Is Team’s First Over Red Wings

Teams with six victories in 23 games should not feel this good about themselves. Then again, they probably shouldn’t be handling conference runners-up with apparent ease, either.

But that’s the Mighty Ducks for you. One week they look like minor-leaguers, the next they’re beating the Detroit Red Wings for the first time in franchise history.

The Ducks rid themselves of the hex and the Red Wings with a 3-1 victory before an announced sellout of 17,174 at the Pond of Anaheim.

“We’ve waited a long, long time to beat these guys,” defenseman Bobby Dollas said after the Ducks ended a 12-game winless streak against Detroit with a convincing victory.

“I’ve been here four years and we’ve come close. But we came out tonight on a mission.”

The Ducks are 6-13-4 and in last place in the Pacific Division, but they showed signs they won’t be a league punching bag much longer.

Sunday’s victory completed an impressive weekend sweep. They also defeated the San Jose Sharks, 3-0, Saturday night at San Jose and have their first winning streak this season.

“Beating a team like Detroit will give us a lot more confidence,” said winger Teemu Selanne, who scored the Ducks’ first goal and extended his point-scoring streak to nine games.

“There’s a great feeling in this dressing room right now.”

And why not?

After a horrid start, missing Paul Kariya with an abdominal injury for the first 11 games and threatening to fall from contention before Thanksgiving, the Ducks have at last caught one team in the Western Conference.

They moved into a last-place tie with the Phoenix Coyotes on Sunday.

“As bleak as it’s been, it looks a lot brighter now,” Coach Ron Wilson said.

Indeed. The Ducks’ extended their streak of shutout hockey to five periods by keeping the Red Wings scoreless in the first period. They have given up only three goals in three games. They also are 2-0-1 in the last three.

As on Saturday, Kariya got the Ducks headed in the right direction.

With the Ducks trailing, 1-0, midway through the second period, Kariya set up Selanne’s game-tying goal. Kariya picked up a blocked shot in the Duck zone, took a couple of strides, then fed a perfect pass to a hard-charging Selanne, who went in alone against goaltender Mike Vernon.

Selanne kept it simple, slipping the puck between Vernon’s legs for his team-leading 13th goal. It was his fourth goal and 13th point in the past nine games.

A moment later, Ted Drury fed Garry Valk for what turned out to be the game-winning goal at the 10:31 mark.

“Teddy made a great pass, threaded it through two [Red Wings] right to my stick, and I was ready for it,” Valk said. “It was a big goal.”

Defenseman Darren Van Impe added a clinching goal with 1:44 left in the game. Goalie Guy Hebert and the Duck defense kept the Red Wings’ scoring chances to a minimum down the stretch. Hebert stopped 30 of 31 shots.

“It just goes to show you how much we’ve grown in four years,” Hebert said after the Ducks ended their 0-9-3 streak against Detroit.