Coyotes Must Be Wily to Slow Ducks’ Big 2

How are the Phoenix Coyotes going to stop Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne?

“With a lasso?” Phoenix winger Mike Gartner said. “That might work.”

Keith Tkachuk, the Coyotes’ captain, let a little smirk play across his face.

“Send someone to their houses tonight,” he said. “Kidnap ‘em.”

Merely slowing down Kariya and Selanne--let alone stopping them--is the Coyotes’ task tonight at the Pond in Game 2 of their Western Conference quarterfinal series after Kariya and Selanne scored all four Mighty Duck goals in a 4-2 Game 1 victory.

“We’ve got to find a way to stop those guys. They ate us up,” said Tkachuk, who led the NHL in goals during the regular season with 52, one more than Selanne. “Hopefully, keep them to less than two goals apiece, I don’t know.”

The flash and dash of Kariya and Selanne made it easy to forget what a close game it was--a one-goal margin until Kariya was awarded an empty-net goal in the final minute. The game might have gone to overtime if not for a quick whistle that led to a disallowed Phoenix goal.

For the Ducks to get out of the first round, it will take three more victories like that one. “It’s going to be a long series,” Kariya said. “They’ve got a lot of talent over there, a lot of guys like [Jeremy] Roenick and Tkachuk who know how to come through in the clutch.”

The Ducks don’t have as many options, but Coach Ron Wilson doesn’t believe anyone can completely shut down Kariya and Selanne, a tandem he says is “pick your poison.”

“It can happen any given night, but I can’t see it happening four, five, six games,” Wilson said. “They might be shut down for a period, but they counterattack as well as anybody. It’s a lightning strike. With two wingers so dynamic, it’s very hard to shut them both down.”

Phoenix Coach Don Hay has put serious wear and tear on the VCR watching tapes of the NHL’s second- and third-leading scorers. He hasn’t found the one that shows him a solution yet, so his operative word is contain.

“You don’t want them to run wild,” he said. “You want to make things really tough on them.”

Some probable strategies:

Limit turnovers/Improve neutral-zone play--”The biggest thing is, we have to look after the puck when we have it,” Hay said. “If you turn it over against those two. . . .”

Tkachuk agreed: “Kariya stays high in the defensive zone, and if they get the puck, he makes a quick release. They’re always looking for each other.” Center Bob Corkum, who was traded to Philadelphia by the Ducks the day before they acquired Selanne last season, said: “They’re so quick, and they see the ice so well. . . . If those two see a break, they take off and the ‘D’ just flips the puck out. I think we just have to not turn the puck over. Keep them in their end. They want to play in the other zone, not the defensive zone.”

Try to physically wear down Kariya and Selanne--”If they have to keep picking themselves up off the ice, it will make them more tired, especially over the course of a series,” Roenick said. “Physically, Keith and I need to do more damage, not let those two dictate the game.” Roenick got in a few mild hits on Kariya in Game 1. “There was a little more bumping,” Kariya said. “They were trying to hold us up, but that’s to be expected. If they want to play physical, that’s fine by us.”

Roenick was careful to say he doesn’t want to hurt anyone. “I respect those guys. They are two of the top players in the game and you don’t want to cheap-shot them,” he said. “They’re honest players. It’s different if somebody’s being an idiot, but you don’t do anything to them. That wouldn’t be right.”

Find the right matchups--The Coyotes know they want defensemen Teppo Numminen and Oleg Tverdovsky on the ice against Kariya and Selanne as often as possible. Which line to play is a tougher call, though Hay seems to prefer the Cliff Ronning line with Roenick and Dallas Drake to the checking line centered by Corkum.

“It’s a real challenge,” Hay said. “You could put your checking line out there against them just to try to control them by totally thinking defensively. But then you take the chance you’ll be keeping your top offensive players off the ice. But if you put your top offensive players out there, they’re going to take chances with the puck that might create turnovers that give that line chances to score. You’re kind of rolling the dice.”

Play six-man defense--The Coyotes can always pray goalie Nikolai Khabibulin goes on one of his hot streaks. Phoenix beat the Ducks, 2-1, in Anaheim on Dec. 23 and held Kariya and Selanne without a point.

“Great goaltending,” Hay said. “They had chances. We had great goaltending. . . .

“You have to have all five guys on the ice--all six guys on the ice--working as a unit.”

Those are the possibilities.

“I’m sure Phoenix will come up with a plan to neutralize Paul and Teemu,” Wilson said. “They can be more physical but if we’re on a two-on-one, how are you going to hit them?”

Selanne, if he wanted to play coach, might have some ideas. . . .

“Do you think I want them to read about that in the newspaper?” he said. “No comment.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

RUCCHIN QUESTIONABLE

The Ducks’ Steve Rucchin had a bone scan on his sore back and may not play tonight against Phoenix. C3

LEMIEUX FROZEN OUT

Mario Lemieux was held scoreless as Philadelphia beat Pittsburgh, 5-1, in an NHL playoff opener. C3

HOW THEY STAND

Team-by-team results and series schedules. C3

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Times staff writer Elliott Teaford contributed to this story.