Hebert Keeps Ducks’ Heads Above Water in 3-1 Victory

Pardon Mighty Duck goaltender Guy Hebert if he seems a bit un-American when it comes to playing on the U.S. Olympic hockey team.

Certainly, he’s making a solid case to be selected, as Friday’s 3-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers before 17,099 at the Edmonton Coliseum proved.

And he’s as red, white and blue as any fellow with a French-sounding name from upstate New York can be.

But he has mixed emotions about playing for the United States in the Nagano Olympics Feb. 8-21.

Hebert made it clear again Friday he would be honored to be selected to one of six vacant roster spots. But his wife, Sarah, is expecting the couple’s first child in mid-January and family must come first.

Besides, if he’s going to be the second or third goalie on the depth chart behind Mike Richter of the New York Rangers, as he was during last year’s World Cup of Hockey, he might be better off at home caring for his newborn baby.

“If I’m chosen, I’ll have to make a difficult decision,” Hebert said, shrugging and managing a faint smile.

Picking a hotter goalie in the NHL at the moment, U.S.-born or otherwise, also is a tough task.

Hebert won for the third time in four starts and almost had his third shutout in that span.

His shutout streak ended after 113 minutes 58 seconds, but his goals-against average for the past four games dropped to 1.39.

“Look at his combination of save percentage [.914] and goals-against average [2.68] and he’s right up there with the best,” Duck Coach Pierre Page said. “But I don’t want to create a controversy by telling them who to pick. When all is said and done, I’m sure they’ll pick the best.”

Hebert’s toughest competition would appear to be Tom Barrasso of the Pittsburgh Penguins, who has an identical save percentage and a 2.24 goals-against average.

“I’m not sure he [Hebert] really wants to go there [to Nagano] from what he’s said,” Duck right wing Teemu Selanne said. “The family is so important. I think he really wants to be with his wife.

“I think he’s playing so well now he should make the team, but he’s got to be realistic. If he’s going to sit in the stands and not play maybe he should just stay home.”

Meanwhile, the Ducks continued to reap the benefits of Hebert’s hot streak. He stopped 32 of 33 shots, and goals by Selanne, Joe Sacco and Jeremy Stevenson helped ease his burden.

Selanne’s goal was his league-leading 21st this season and ended a six-game drought. It also helped the Ducks return to the .500 mark at 11-11-5.

“The good news is we won,” Page said. “The better news is we can still play better.”

Indeed. Against another team, a total of 15 shots on goal might have resulted in a loss. But these were the Oilers after all, and the Ducks apparently can do nothing wrong against them.

Friday’s victory extended their unbeaten streak against Edmonton to eight games (7-0-1). The Oilers haven’t beaten the Ducks since a 3-2 victory Feb. 14, 1996 at the Edmonton Coliseum.

No way Edmonton could win Friday. Not with a sputtering power play and a mistake-prone defense against a confident-looking team of Ducks.

The only question remaining by the third period was whether the Oilers would score and break Hebert’s shutout streak.

They finally did, but only because defenseman Dmitri Mironov’s poor clearing pass ended up on the stick of Oiler defenseman Dan McGillis. McGillis then beat a defenseless Hebert with a shot from the slot to cut the Duck lead to 3-1 at 13:58.

“That was sick,” said Hebert, who is 11-5-1 with a 1.70 goals-against average in his career against Edmonton.

The Ducks turned back the pressing Oilers down the stretch, killed the last of six Edmonton power plays and even managed a whopping three shots on goal in the third period.