Kariya Shows His Generalship With a Five-Star Performance

Paul Kariya vowed during the All-Star break to do more, to score an important goal, to make a key pass, to raise his game and the Mighty Ducks right along with him.

Kariya made good on all his promises Wednesday, leaving the dazed Florida Panthers in his wake during the Ducks’ record-setting 8-3 rout at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim.

He scored three goals and had two assists as the Ducks hammered the Panthers from the start, turning the game into target practice against rookie backup goaltender Kevin Weekes by the third period.

Kariya, Teemu Selanne and Coach Pierre Page met Monday and Tuesday to talk about the season’s final 34 games. The consensus was that the top line--Kariya, Selanne and Steve Rucchin--needs to get its act together if the Ducks are to challenge for a playoff berth.

“We just weren’t doing the job,” Kariya said. “We weren’t playing well. We weren’t scoring. We weren’t making the big play. Hopefully [Wednesday’s victory] puts us on the right path.”

Kariya scored two goals and had two assists in the first period as the Ducks built a four-goal lead. He scored again in the second, converting on a penalty shot against Weekes.

It was Kariya’s third NHL hat trick and second five-point game. And it was the Ducks’ second goal on a penalty shot this season. Joe Sacco scored against Montreal’s Jocelyn Thibault Nov. 12.

Kariya vs. Weekes hardly seemed fair. Kariya was the NHL’s third-leading scorer last season with 44 goals and 99 points. Weekes was playing in his fifth NHL game.

Kariya was awarded the penalty shot after Weekes was whistled by referee Kerry Fraser for throwing his stick to stop a breakaway at 13:26. Kariya beat Weekes with a shot between the pads.

“I’ve had enough experience on penalty shots in shootouts in the Olympics and the World Championships,” said Kariya, who was stopped by Sweden’s Tommy Salo in the gold-medal game of the 1994 Olympics. “I just wanted to stay away from [Weekes’] glove hand. It looked like he had a good glove hand.”

Sacco, Selanne (two goals), Matt Cullen (first NHL goal) and Warren Rychel also scored for the Ducks, who set a franchise record with eight goals in the game. Twelve players had at least one point, which tied a team record.

“The All-Star break was the best thing that could have happened to Paul Kariya,” Page said. “He did a favor for us tonight.”

Kariya’s hat trick was just the sort of spark that has been lacking for the Ducks, who went into the break winners of only four of 21 games. The Ducks had been hoping for something special from Kariya.

“He’s the kind of guy who takes a lot of pride in carrying a team,” Rychel said of Kariya. “If he’s not perfect he’s kind of critical of himself. It’s tough on him. People expect him to carry the team.

“But . . . no one can do that in the National Hockey League.”

Kariya seems bent on making it happen, though. The question is: Can he help the Ducks repeat last season’s late surge to secure a winning record and a playoff berth?

“If we’re fresh mentally and play as a team, anything is possible,” Page said. “If we just go real hard as a team, then the odds are good. I figure there are about nine teams fighting for about three spots now [in the Western Conference playoffs]. There are 33 games left. That’s a lot of games and a lot of points still left.”

For once, the Ducks seemed to carry a sense of urgency to the ice with them. There had been only talk until Wednesday.

Kariya accepted a pass from Selanne and tucked a shot beneath starting goalie John Vanbiesbrouck only 1:06 into the game. Kariya then set up Sacco for a goal on a two-on-two rush at 11:18.

Kariya scored again at 15:22, swatting a bouncing puck past Vanbiesbrouck for a 3-0 lead. It took a bit of concentration to bang that one home.

Vanbiesbrouck blocked a shot with his stick and the puck struck Kariya in the right knee, popped into the air and the Duck left wing volleyed it into the net.