Ducks Take a Bite Out of Sharks

Good news came in measured doses Sunday night for the Mighty Ducks against the San Jose Sharks.

The Ducks played without Teemu Selanne, whose strained right thigh continues to trouble him. They also watched with nervous anticipation as Paul Kariya tested his sore groin.

In the end, the Ducks sputtered and wheezed. But they also scored two power-play goals and subdued the Sharks, 2-1, ending a five-game winless streak in front of 16,321 at San Jose Arena.

“We scratched and clawed tonight,” goaltender Guy Hebert said. “If we’ve got to win games, 2-1, so be it.”

Marty McInnis scored the go-ahead goal for the Ducks at 9:47 of the third period, ending his five-game goal-scoring drought. Kariya and Steve Rucchin assisted on McInnis’ seventh goal.

Kariya’s point was his first in four games.

With San Jose’s Joe Murphy in the penalty box for tripping, Kariya zoomed into the Shark zone. The puck rolled off Kariya’s stick, but went to Rucchin, who fed a cross-ice pass to a streaking McInnis on left wing.

“It just happened so fast,” McInnis said. “It was a great pass by Rucchin. I didn’t even look up. I wanted to get the shot off quick.”

It was the sort of late-game jolt the Ducks were missing while going 0-4-1 in games at Detroit, Nashville, Carolina, Pittsburgh and Chicago.

Injuries to Kariya and Selanne played a key part in the Ducks’ winless streak. And even Sunday the Ducks sorely missed Selanne’s speed against the slower Sharks.

Selanne stayed behind, but Kariya reached top speed occasionally as the Ducks defeated the Sharks for the first time since April 11, 1997.

“I felt better tonight,” Kariya said after the Ducks ended a 0-6-1 streak against San Jose. “A day off [from practice Friday] helped me when I got back out there.”

Coach Craig Hartsburg had no further update on Selanne other than to say, “We’ll see at practice [today]. He’s day-to-day.”

Of Kariya, Hartsburg said, “That’s the best Paul has skated in the last four games. He had some good bursts of speed.”

The Ducks seemed energized merely because Kariya was on his game Sunday.

Certainly, it wasn’t enough for anyone to send the tape to the Hall of Fame in Toronto. But the Ducks didn’t care about style points. They simply wanted a victory.

“I thought we played a solid game, not anything fancy,” Hartsburg said. “We don’t have to be perfect. Our power play came through for us after letting us down a couple of times on the trip. Now, we can go home and get our feet back on the ground. We’ve got to play better.”

The Ducks might have had a 1-0 lead to start the pivotal third period, but couldn’t stay out of the penalty box in the final 10 minutes of the second period.

Whose fault that was certainly was open to debate. The Ducks weren’t particularly happy with the officiating of Blaine Angus and Richard Trottier in the second period.

Matt Cullen’s first goal of the season, and first since last April 15 against the Edmonton Oilers, gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead 3:58 into the second period.

At 11:02, Rucchin was whistled for unsportsmanlike conduct. It was not immediately clear what Rucchin had said or done--mainly because he was busy crawling around the ice after being knocked to it as the Ducks broke into San Jose’s zone.

At 12:08, San Jose’s Owen Nolan deflected Bill Houlder’s shot from the right point past a well-screened Hebert.

Tie score.

Howls of protest from Rucchin upon exiting the penalty box.

Whistle.

Two minutes more for unsportsmanlike conduct against Rucchin.

Television cameras then caught Hartsburg begging to differ in terms unsuitable for print.

Eleven seconds passed before San Jose’s Murray Craven was sent to the penalty box for interference.

Can you say, “Makeup call,” boys and girls?

With the teams skating four-on-four, Cullen narrowly missed his second goal of the game. But San Jose goalie Steve Shields plucked his one-timer from the slot out of the air to maintain the tie.

Kariya, held without a goal or an assist in three consecutive games before Sunday, set up the play by beating San Jose defenseman Bob Rouse along the left-wing boards. Kariya then fed the puck into the slot for Cullen.

It was a sign Kariya’s groin strain was significantly improved over Thursday, when he moved cautiously during the Ducks’ 4-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks.