Ducks Do Legwork to Move Few Steps Closer to Playoffs

This is the sprint to the finish. Say one thing for the Mighty Ducks, they have the legs for it.

Teemu Selanne--also known as the Finnish Flash--scored two goals in the Ducks’ 4-1 victory over Ottawa in front of 17,174 Wednesday at the Pond.

Paul Kariya assisted on a breakaway goal by Selanne and capped off the game with an empty-net goal, the 100th in an NHL career that spans only 180 games.

Quick as that, the Ducks have a six-game unbeaten streak, their longest of the season and one shy of the club record. The longest unbeaten streak in team history came almost exactly a year ago, when the Ducks went 6-0-1 from March 8-24.

That was the start of a furious but futile stretch run. They went 12-3-2 in the final 17 games, then missed the playoffs by one point.

They’re in a better position this time. The victory put them in a three-way tie for sixth in the Western Conference with Chicago and Phoenix.

But they have learned how small the difference between making the playoffs and staying home can be, and Coach Ron Wilson told the players during the morning skate to give everything to the race now because, “We don’t want any . . . regrets.”

“I talked to our players for three days, saying Ottawa is in the same situation we are,” Wilson said. “Every point is just as important to them as it is to us.”

The Ducks have succeeded during most of their 4-0-2 run because of determined third-period play, but this time they broke the game open in the second, scoring three times in about nine minutes. But Wilson hadn’t been pleased with a first period he thought lacked intensity.

“We were mentally prepared, but I don’t think we were ready in our hearts,” he said. “We needed to generate some excitement. Teemu and Paul generated that excitement.”

Ottawa didn’t score until only 9:18 remained in the game, when Tom Chorske spoiled Guy Hebert’s shutout bid. Hebert finished with 39 saves and has a .950 save percentage during the unbeaten streak.

Selanne started the Ducks’ run with a breakaway goal at 6:57 of the second off a pass from Kariya that unfolded more like a backyard football play, “Go long.”

Steve Rucchin won a faceoff in the Ducks’ end, and the puck went over to Dmitri Mironov, who passed it back to Kariya behind the goal line. Kariya threw a bomb to mid-ice and Selanne ran it down, beating a couple of Ottawa defenders to the puck before he put it between Ron Tugnutt’s pads on the other end.

That was Selanne’s 38th goal of the season, and his 39th came about 6 1/2 minutes later at 13:37 of the period when he sprinted to the net and took a pass from Jari Kurri after Kurri came up with a loose puck in the neutral zone.

It was a show of unselfishness by Kurri, who turns 37 in May and needs only seven goals to become the eighth player in NHL history to score 600 goals. Kurri was looking pass all the way, and put the puck on Selanne’s stick.

“On the first goal, Paul gave me an unbelievable pass. Jari did the same on the second,” Selanne said. “Right now we have a good chance to make the playoffs. This is a big challenge for us.”

The goals give Selanne 86 points this season, one less than the NHL’s second-leading scorer, Jaromir Jagr, who recently aggravated a groin injury. Mario Lemieux is first with 99 points.

Kurri has only 26 points this season, but is inching up the NHL career scoring list. The assist left him only two points behind John Bucyk for 11th.

Selanne’s two goals were all the Ducks would need, but Brian Bellows added another at 15:38 of the second when he poked in the rebound of Kevin Todd’s shot from the corner of the net for his ninth goal of the season.

Once again, the Ducks played a solid third, giving up only the third final-period goal in their last nine games.

Kariya finished things off with his 32nd goal of the season, scoring into the empty net with 3.7 seconds left after Ottawa pulled Tugnutt for an extra attacker.

* UNSUNG HERO: Goalies, such as the Ducks’ Guy Hebert, are hot commodities in stretch run. C9