Hicks Doesn’t Taunt, Just Haunts Ducks

Alex Hicks said all the right things Saturday. He praised his old club, his former teammates, and his ex-general manager who gave him an opportunity to play in the NHL.

Hicks said he didn’t intend to stick it to the Mighty Ducks, it just happened that way.

No hard feelings, he said after scoring the go-ahead goal for his new team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, in a 5-3 victory over the Ducks before 16,326 at Civic Arena.

“I owe my career to that organization,” Hicks said. “They gave me a chance to play in the NHL. But you’ve got to turn the page. I haven’t had much time to think about it, but I guess all the ties have been severed now.

“The trade was a little shocking at first. I have a lot of great friends on that team. I enjoyed it out there. I owe a lot to the Mighty Ducks and to [General Manager] Jack Ferreira for taking a chance on me.”

It has been only three weeks since the Ducks sent Hicks, an energetic center, and defenseman Fredrik Olausson to the Penguins for defenseman Dmitri Mironov and forward Shawn Antoski.

So far, the deal has helped both clubs.

Pittsburgh has a seven-game unbeaten streak (5-0-2) and the Ducks are 5-2-2 in their last nine.

But give the edge in the trade to the Penguins on Saturday.

Hicks broke a 3-3 tie by taking a pass from Jaromir Jagr, racing past Duck defenseman Jason Marshall and slipping the puck into the net midway through the third period. Jagr added an empty-net goal in the game’s final minute.

The goal by Hicks, his first for the Penguins and third this season, was a backbreaker. Mironov helped the Ducks build a 3-1 lead by scoring twice in a span of 4:17 in the second period, and appeared to have made his return to Pittsburgh a rousing success.

If nothing else, Mironov’s goals seemed to irritate the fans, who booed him loudly after each. Mironov had heard enough by game’s end. When he was announced as the game’s third star, he skated onto the ice wearing teammate Darren Van Impe’s jersey.

“Hicks is more than happy because Mironov got some goals for Anaheim,” Pittsburgh Coach Eddie Johnston said. “Mironov played very well. Every time you trade a guy, it seems he comes back to bite you.”

Said Hicks: “It doesn’t happen very often where things work out perfectly.”

Indeed. Jagr’s pass was perfect. Marshall, who got into a fight with Hicks during a practice last month, was a step too slow. Plus, the Ducks were one brick short of the usual five-man load, getting caught on a line change. Jagr and Hicks made them pay.

“Alex is a good guy,” Duck winger Teemu Selanne said. “Of course, it’s not nice when he scores against us, but we wish him well.”

As they had Friday at Buffalo, the Ducks dominated long stretches of the game. But they couldn’t get the tying goal against rookie Patrick Lalime, who started his first NHL game in place of Ken Wregget, sidelined by a bruised shoulder.

Lalime stopped 30 of 33 shots and outdueled Mikhail Shtalenkov, who started his first game in goal since Nov. 17. Guy Hebert, who has a 1.23 goals-against average in the past eight games, was given the night off by Coach Ron Wilson.