Hebert and Ducks Give Rival Kings a Real Blank Look

Teemu Selanne broke open a scoreless game with a pair of second-period goals and Paul Kariya ended a seven-game scoring drought as the Mighty Ducks defeated the Kings, 3-0, on Sunday at the Arrowhead Pond.

Guy Hebert made 35 saves to earn his 20th shutout and the first recorded by either team in this 29-game rivalry, which was born when the NHL expanded to Orange County in 1993.

The Ducks have never held the edge over the Kings in the overall series, which they evened at 12-12-5. It is the third time the Ducks have tied the series, after losing the first four meetings in 1993-94.

A bench penalty against the Kings for having too many men on the ice put the Mighty Ducks on the power play, leading to the game’s first goal with 9:47 remaining in the second period and nine seconds left on the man advantage.

About a minute after blowing a perfect setup at the left of the crease, Selanne was sent in across the blue line by Kariya, who backhanded the puck to him as he made a wide turn at the red line. Selanne blew between defensemen Doug Bodger and Steve Duchesne before beating Stephane Fiset high to the glove side.

Selanne scored again less than 6 1/2 minutes later, intercepting an attempted clearing pass by Jozef Stumpel and getting a return feed from Steve Rucchin before beating Fiset to the stick side with a short backhander.

Kariya made the score 3-0 at 12:23 of the third when he stole the puck from Duchesne and swooped in on Fiset before faking him to the ice and backhanding his 14th goal between the right post and Fiset’s glove.

Hebert’s shutout was his fourth of the season. The Kings lost on the road for the seventh straight time and were blanked for the fifth time this season.

Hebert, who blanked Washington, 1-0, on Friday night, has notched consecutive shutouts for the first time in his career. And he did it in clutch fashion with a couple of brilliant stops while the game was scoreless.

The Kings were on a power play less than four minutes into the second period when Hebert made a difficult save on a one-timer by Luc Robitaille from the left circle. About 3 1/2 minutes later, Stumpel sent a cross-ice pass to Robitaille who went in alone and Hebert held his ground by turning aside an eight-foot wrist shot.

Robitaille’s goal-scoring streak ended at four games.