The Next Move: Break Up Ducks?

By ROBYN NORWOOD

April 22, 1997 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

PHOENIX —

In the point-counterpoint tactics of the Stanley Cup playoffs, it’s the loser who makes the next move.

Phoenix Coach Don Hay introduced a new checking line to try to slow Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya after losing Game 1, then added a muscle-your-way-to-the-net strategy after another loss in Game 2.

Now it’s Mighty Duck Coach Ron Wilson’s turn, since the Coyotes won Game 3, and he’s poised to break up the high-scoring tandem of Kariya and Selanne in Game 4 of the best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinal series tonight at America West Arena.

“There’s a very good chance we’ll split them up at the beginning of the game,” Wilson said. “We need offense from more than one line. That could be a way to get it done.”

With center Steve Rucchin, the Ducks’ third-leading scorer, set to play tonight after sitting out the first three games--unless his back suddenly stiffens again--Wilson had Kariya, Rucchin and veteran Brian Bellows on the first line during practice Monday. Selanne was on the second line with Jari Kurri at center and speedy Joe Sacco on the other wing.

“It’s a smart move,” said Selanne, who was held to one shot during the Ducks’ 4-1 loss Sunday. “I think it’s a good idea to do something different every once in a while, and make the other team’s checkers think. I think they had it a little too easy.”

Kariya had seven shots Sunday, scoring the Ducks’ only goal on a power play.

“Hopefully, one of us gets a little more room,” Kariya said. “If we’re split, maybe we’ll get double the opportunities and increase our odds of scoring. . . . It will be more balanced. We’ll see how they counter.”

Wilson has separated Selanne and Kariya briefly before--and each has played without the other because of injuries this season--but they always come back together, often in the same game. They still figure to be on the power play together, but by splitting them at the outset, Wilson can upset Hay’s game plan and cause some uncertainty.

As Selanne hinted, “They don’t know when we are going to come back together again.”

Said Bellows, “It adds a different variable. You never know what Ron will do.”

If Kariya and Selanne are on different lines, Hay will face a decision: Which one to stop?

The checking line of Darrin Shannon, former Duck Bob Corkum and Jeremy Roenick has been very effective, holding Selanne and Kariya to one goal each over the last two games after each scored two in Game 1.

But if Hay puts the Corkum line against, say, Kariya’s line, it may mean countering Selanne with the line Coyote power forward Keith Tkachuk is on--diverting Tkachuk’s attention from running roughshod over the Ducks as he did in Game 3.

“You’re always making adjustments and trying to think like Ron’s thinking and figure out what he’s going to do,” Hay said. “It’s like playing a chess game. You make a move, they make a move, then you’re going to have to counter.”

There is some gamesmanship at work. If Wilson meant to take the Coyotes by complete surprise, why unveil the new lines in practice in view of Phoenix coaches and scads of reporters?

Even Duck defenseman J.J. Daigneault joked about it as he walked by the line combinations posted in the dressing room.

“You know what that is?” he teased. “It’s a trap--a trap for the other team.”

Either way, Hay has something to think about until game time. The truth of it is, though, the Ducks won’t win many games if they score only one goal, as they did Sunday.

The return of Rucchin, the 6-foot-3, 215-pound center who usually plays with Kariya and Selanne, should make a sizable difference alone.

“He should give us a lot more space,” Kariya said. “He’s so strong in the corners and he really controls the puck in all three zones. He’s a guy who can drive to the net too.”

Rucchin was a longshot even to make the NHL when he was picked in the 1993 supplemental draft, but his 67 points this season would have at least tied for the scoring lead on seven NHL teams.

“I want to come in and help the team by doing some of the little things,” said Rucchin, who practiced for the first time in a week Monday after being held out because of back spasms. “I would have been more of a detriment than a benefit to the guys. It was best that I watched.”

Bellows, a 15-year veteran who was a teammate of Wilson’s with the Minnesota North Stars in the 1980s, is the kind of player who can pick up what Kariya called “garbage goals” around the net--as he almost did Sunday before losing the apparent goal because of the referee’s quick whistle.

The Ducks are eager to win tonight so they can go home with a 3-1 advantage and a chance to close out the series at home Thursday in Game 5.

“But you’ve got to expect a series to go seven games and be ready,” Kurri said. “It’s not like we were going to beat them four straight or they were going to beat us four straight.”

Even if the Coyotes square the series, the Ducks won’t have lost all of their advantage, because it will be best of three, with two of the games in Anaheim.

“It was so critical to finish in fourth place and get home ice,” Rucchin said. “You can see how important that’s been to this point [because the home team has won every game.] The home crowd is almost like a seventh man on the ice.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

Mighty Ducks vs. Phoenix

SERIES AT A GLANCE

* Game 1: Mighty Ducks, 4-2

* Game 2: Mighty Ducks, 4-2

* Game 3: Phoenix, 4-1

* Tonight: at Phoenix, 7:30

* Thursday: at Mighty Ducks, 7:30 p.m.

* Sunday: at Phoenix, noon*

* April 29: at Mighty Ducks, 7:30 p.m.*

* if necessary