Determination Lands Ducks in Playoffs

The Mighty Ducks didn’t want to limp into the playoffs or wait for anybody else to usher them in, so Friday night they took care of things themselves by decking the NHL’s hottest team, the Dallas Stars.

The Stars had won seven in a row and hadn’t lost in their last 11, but the Ducks’ determination was a key factor in a 3-2 victory in front of 17,174 that clinched the first trip to the Stanley Cup playoffs in the team’s four-season history.

Three players from the original team are still there to celebrate the moment: Guy Hebert, Bobby Dollas and Joe Sacco.

“For myself, Bobby and Joe, we feel like our careers [wouldn’t] be complete until we made it to the playoffs in Anaheim,” said Hebert, who watched from the bench Friday as Teemu Selanne led the way with his 49th goal and two assists. “This is something we’ve been waiting for since we set foot here,” Hebert said. “We want to get there and make our mark.”

The Ducks, who extended their franchise-record unbeaten streak at the Pond to 13 games, could still finish anywhere from fourth to eighth in the Western Conference, but they are assured of a playoff spot even though ninth-place Calgary tied Vancouver on Friday because eighth-place Chicago and Calgary play each other twice in the final four games. Either one can still catch the Ducks at 81 points, but not both.

The Ducks have the third-best record in the Western Conference since Nov. 1, going 33-24-10. Only Colorado and Dallas have been better. (The Ducks have spent all season trying to make up for a 1-9-2 start.)

“I think we’re going to be one of those teams people just pray they don’t have to face in the playoffs,” Coach Ron Wilson said.

They also have the NHL’s second and third highest-scoring players after Mario Lemieux. Selanne has 106 points and Paul Kariya is third in the league in scoring with 96 points despite missing 13 games because of injuries.

It was Selanne and Kariya, in classic fashion, who combined for the winning goal on a two-on-one rush with nine seconds left in the second period.

Selanne left two Dallas players in his wake at the blue line, and it was only a matter of whether he or Kariya would take the shot.

Selanne passed, and Kariya one-timed the puck sharply at Arturs Irbe, who tipped it up with his glove. That wasn’t enough to stop Kariya’s shot, though. It popped up and then fell in behind Irbe over the goal line for a 3-2 Duck lead with nine seconds left.

Backup goalie Mikhail Shtalenkov started instead of Hebert for the fourth time in five games and was sharp again, making 25 saves. Wilson described it as simply an opportunity to get more rest for Hebert and said Hebert will start the final two games.

The Ducks scored first when Selanne held off defenseman Darryl Sydor and cut behind the net, then threaded a pass under the stick of defenseman Grant Ledyard across the crease to Rucchin, cutting to the net. Rucchin deftly lifted the puck over goalie Arturs Irbe for his 19th goal of the season and a 1-0 lead at 15:14 of the first period.

Selanne made the score 2-0 midway through the second when he went around a defenseman at the blue line and fired a shot between Irbe’s pads from the left wing at 10:51.

Dallas defenseman Mike Lalor cut the lead to 2-1 at 14:27 of the second and Dave Reid made it 2-2 less than a minute later.