Ducks Win Game After Losing Hebert, Selanne

Even as hot as they have been, the Mighty Ducks have always known they could be one wrenched knee or one twisted ankle from disaster.

Guy Hebert, Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya are that important to them.

The Ducks’ worst fears were being played out Sunday in Edmonton after Hebert left the game trembling, panicky and exhausted after hyperventilating, and then Selanne skated off, unable to play because of a strained muscle in his left side.

The Ducks beat the Oilers easily, 4-1, in a crucial game in the Western Conference playoff race, moving into a tie with Edmonton for fifth place.

The worry now is Selanne, who is the second-leading scorer in the NHL and is questionable for Tuesday’s game at Calgary.

“Hopefully, it’s not bad and I will play next game,” Selanne said. “That’s my goal right now. We’ll be able to tell more tomorrow.”

Selanne scored his 47th goal of the season in the first period, tying him for the league lead with Philadelphia’s John LeClair. But on his first shift of the second period, Selanne pulled a muscle as he took a little sprint.

“I felt pain in my ribs,” he said.

On the bench, Selanne twisted from side to side and iced the area toward the back of his left side, and he tried to skate once before going into the dressing room with 12:46 left in the second period.

“The doctor, I asked if he could [administer a shot] or something but he said, ‘Maybe in a playoff game, not this game,’ ” Selanne said. “The score was 2-0. I didn’t want to take the risk.”

Still, the Ducks are worried. They have nine games left, but have only a three-point cushion for a playoff spot, despite losing only once in their last 14 games.

“I’m concerned because it’s similar to the injury Joe Sacco had--a pulled muscle in the side,” Coach Ron Wilson said. “Hopefully, he’ll get treatment and we’ll see if he’ll be ready for Calgary.”

Sacco sat out five games in January.

Hebert’s episode shouldn’t have any repercussions, but was far scarier than Selanne’s.

“I thought I was going to die,” Hebert said with a wan smile. “Near the end of the period I could hardly breathe, and I started throwing up. That’s probably not the most exciting news. I had the dry heaves. At the end of the period, I struggled just to get into the dressing room. My body was shaking and my face started to get numb. But the doctor was right there and [trainer Paddy Jarit] helped me catch my breath.”

Jarit said Hebert hyperventilated and did not suffer from dehydration or heat exhaustion. Hebert recovered as he was calmed and his breathing returned to normal, Jarit said.

The episode came after the Ducks had to kill off a five-minute power play that began when Mark Janssens was called for a spearing major against Bryan Marchment late in the first period. Hebert had to scramble again and again to cover the net.

Mikhail Shtalenkov relieved Hebert for the final two periods, even though Hebert returned to the bench for the third, skating during the warmup.

With two of their three stars out, the Ducks held solid, protecting the 2-0 lead they took in the first eight minutes of the game. Selanne scored off a pass that Jari Kurri threaded between two defensemen in the neutral zone, and assisted Kariya on a five-on-three power play goal, Kariya’s 37th goal of the season.

The Ducks added to the lead when Sean Pronger scored at 13:13 of the second period, and defenseman Dave Karpa banked a shot from the point off Oiler defenseman Kevin Lowe 28 seconds later. Shtalenkov made 32 saves, giving up a goal by Andrei Kovalenko.

“That was a great team effort after a tough loss at Colorado,” Pronger said. “We responded well. A lot of teams might have folded.”

Pronger carried some of the blame for the end of the Ducks’ 12-game unbeaten streak Friday at Colorado after he took a penalty late in the third.

“I’m just glad we won. The fact I scored was a bonus,” Pronger said. “I didn’t want that small incident to turn our season around, because it was such a crushing defeat.”

The Edmonton game was an invigorating victory, and two of its stars hardly played.