Kariya Signing Appears at Hand

The Mighty Ducks lost, 3-0, to the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Pond, but there were indications late Wednesday night they are close to signing free agent winger Paul Kariya.

Captain Teemu Selanne smiled and said, “Yes,” when asked after the game if the Ducks already had signed Kariya.

But General Manager Jack Ferreira would say only, “No comment.” Team President Tony Tavares also refused to comment other than to say, “Just be sure you’re at practice [today].”

Added Coach Pierre Page: “You’ll see. Just make sure you’re around practice. You’ll enjoy it.”

The timing of the agreement comes as a surprise since Selanne expressed concern Tuesday that Kariya would miss the entire season because of his unhappiness over stalled contract talks with the team.

Yet, it also could be seen as a way for the struggling Ducks to upstage former coach Ron Wilson’s return to the Pond on Friday with his new team, the Washington Capitals.

Wilson’s contract was not renewed May 20 after he led the Ducks to their first winning season and first berth in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

“Now, you’ve got something good to write about,” said injured Pittsburgh defenseman Fredrik Olausson, a former Duck.

Wednesday’s game provided another example of how much the Ducks have missed Kariya, who sat out his 32nd game of the season. He has been skating with the Canadian national team since Dec. 1 in preparation for the Olympics, which begin Feb. 7 in Nagano, Japan.

The Ducks couldn’t score and couldn’t win in their second listless performance against Pittsburgh in the past five days. They outshot the Penguins for the second consecutive game, but failed to put a puck behind goaltender Tom Barrasso.

Since defeating the Vancouver Canucks, 3-2, to extend a season-high winning streak to three games Nov. 8, the Ducks are 3-10-2 and have been shut out five times.

They also are only 3-8-3 at the Pond this season.

Worst of all, it seemed at long last the mounting losses and the physical play against him conspired to deflate Selanne.

Not that this latest defeat could be pinned on Selanne, who leads the NHL with 24 goals, but the Ducks cannot win without him to lead the way. Their meager offense went into Wednesday’s game with only 70 goals, fourth fewest in the NHL.

At least the Ducks went to Selanne’s rescue when Pittsburgh’s Darius Kasparaitis, a player with a reputation for dirty play, slammed him against the boards in the game’s final minutes.

Warren Rychel conked Kasparaitis over the head with his stick and a mild scrum broke out behind the Pittsburgh net. No other fights broke out and Rychel and Kasparaitis each received penalties.

Certainly, if Kariya’s signing were to be announced today it would lift Selanne’s spirits. After all, they formed the NHL’s top one-two scoring punch last season.

Selanne was the league’s second-leading scorer with 51 goals and 109 points. Kariya was third with 44 goals and 99 points.

“It’s great,” Selanne said. “It’s going to be like Christmas came early. It would be a huge boost for us. [Paul] had stopped believing they would sign him.”

Jaromir Jagr scored twice Wednesday, just as he had in Pittsburgh’s 5-2 victory Saturday over the Ducks in Pittsburgh. And rookie Robert Dome recorded his first NHL goal.

The Ducks misfired on a terrific opportunity to erase at least part of Pittsburgh’s two-goal lead midway through the second period.

When Pittsburgh defenseman Chris Tamer lost his cool by slashing, then trying to fight a dazed Jeremy Stevenson, the Ducks went on a five-minute power play.

The Ducks buzzed the Pittsburgh net, but couldn’t score. Defenseman Dmitri Mironov clanged a point-blank shot off the left goal post on the Ducks’ best chance.

There were other opportunities for the Ducks, but nothing clicked. Pittsburgh managed little offense during the second period, but its 2-0 lead seemed secure entering the third.

Now with Kariya expected to be back in the fold by as early as today, a two-goal deficit won’t appear to be as insurmountable for the Ducks.