Victory Against Canucks Is Dessert

Paul Kariya finally joined the Mighty Ducks here Saturday afternoon. OK, so it was only for lunch at the team’s hotel before the Ducks’ 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks at GM Place.

But at least they knew he was alive and well, although he is one of five remaining unsigned restricted free agents in the NHL.

Kariya has been staying at his parents’ home in suburban North Vancouver while keeping fit by skating at various public rinks in the area. To avoid fans and reporters, he never rents ice time at the same location two days in a row.

Through his agent, Kariya turned down a request by The Times to meet Saturday to discuss his feelings about the contract stalemate and other subjects. He has not commented publicly since winning his second consecutive Lady Byng award for gentlemanly play in June.

So while the Ducks carried on without him with another strong road game, Kariya watched the Canadian Broadcasting Co.’s “Hockey Night in Canada” telecast at his folks’ house.

He and millions of TV viewers across Canada saw Teemu Selanne extend his goal-scoring streak to a career-best 10 games to highlight the Ducks’ third consecutive victory.

Right wing Scott Young and defenseman Ruslan Salei also scored for the Ducks, who are 6-2-2 during Selanne’s torrid streak. As usual when the Ducks needed a boost, Selanne delivered.

With the Ducks’ clinging to a 2-1 lead and Vancouver pressing for a tying goal, Joe Sacco tipped a loose puck ahead to Selanne in the neutral zone.

Selanne, hounded by Vancouver defenseman Jyrki Lumme down the ice, still managed to slip the puck into the net for his 14th goal in 10 games. It proved to be the backbreaking goal the Ducks needed to hold on for the victory.

Former Duck Mike Sillinger cut the deficit to 3-2 with a goal with 2:28 left in regulation.

But even the return of Alexander Mogilny, who signed a four-year, $17.6-million contract Friday, could not help the struggling Canucks win.

Mogilny clearly could have used more time to prepare for his 1997-98 debut. His timing was off, and so were his shots at Duck goaltender Mikhail Shtalenkov.

But it was the first bit of good news for Vancouver seemingly since the Canucks returned from splitting two games to open the season in Tokyo.

They have won only twice since then and General Manager Pat Quinn was fired last week in an attempt to snap some life into an underachieving team that was mired in last place in the Pacific Division.

The Ducks made the most of what the Canucks gave them Saturday, which was plenty. They dominated from the start, but the Ducks couldn’t squeeze a puck past Kirk McLean on 15-first period shots and had nothing to show for their superiority.

First Young, then Salei gave the Ducks some breathing room with second-period goals.

Young’s fifth this season came as the Ducks were killing off a two-minute slashing penalty to winger Ted Drury.

Young blocked Canuck defenseman Bert Robertsson’s shot from the blue line, then chased down the loose puck for a breakaway against McLean. He unleashed a slap shot that beat McLean from the right faceoff circle at the 5:25 mark.

It was not unlike his game-winning goal in the Ducks’ 4-3 victory Friday over the Calgary Flames.

Salei increased the lead to 2-1 in the final minute of the second period, intercepting a pass in the neutral zone and scoring on a shot from the left circle.