Fussing Over Travel Abates With Olympics at Hand

The compressed schedule this season to accommodate the 17-day Olympic break has had every NHL team grumbling, but with the payoff in sight, there’s been a lot less complaining recently.

“Travel has been a big factor for everybody this season, but nobody wants to say anything now because we’re all so excited about the Olympics,” Coach Pierre Page said.

The Ducks have seven players on six Olympic teams: Guy Hebert with the United States, Paul Kariya with Canada, Teemu Selanne with Finland, Dmitri Mironov and Mikhail Shtalenkov with Russia, Tomas Sandstrom with Sweden and Ruslan Salei with Belarus.

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Shtalenkov handled his surprise starting assignment in the Ducks’ 4-3 victory Thursday over the Colorado Avalanche with his typical low-key approach.

“It matters to me, but it’s not such a big thing,” he said. “I tried to stop as many pucks as I can. They scored three. We scored four.”

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Kariya’s average of 1.44 points a game leads the NHL. The Kariya-Steve Rucchin-Selanne line has seven goals and 19 points in the last two games, a Duck record for consecutive games. . . . The Ducks’ victory over Colorado on Thursday at McNichols Arena in Denver leaves Pittsburgh as the only NHL city in which they have not won. They are 0-3-1 at Civic Arena, including a 5-2 loss there this season. . . . FanFair, which benefits the Disney Goals youth hockey program, will be held next Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Disneyland. Duck players and coaches will be available for autographs and photos.

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After holding Kariya and Selanne to a combined two points in their first meeting Jan. 12, the Kings will have a tougher time duplicating that effort today because the game is being played at the Pond of Anaheim and not the Great Western Forum.

In their 3-2 comeback victory, the Kings took full advantage of the home team’s option of making the final line change. Coach Larry Robinson was able to use his “speed” checking line, led by Nathan LaFayette, against Kariya and Selanne.

With the Kings on the road and the Ducks having the line-change advantage, Robinson plans to keep his top defensemen, Rob Blake and Mattias Norstrom, on the ice as much as possible to combat Anaheim’s top two players.

“You always have to be aware because Selanne and Kariya always switch sides and you have to find them,” Robinson said of the Kings’ matchup problems. “You have to also be close to them because they both can one-time the puck as well as anyone in the league. Kariya probably has the best wrist shot [in the NHL] right now.”

Look for the Kings to try to use a line of Craig Johnson, Russ Courtnall and LaFayette against Kariya and Selanne.

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During the Olympic break, the NHL will not allow any team to practice from Feb. 8-16, but from Feb. 17-20, the Kings will be able to have a restricted training camp during which they can practice for as many as three hours a day. From Feb. 21-24, they will be able to have unrestricted practices before resuming league play Feb. 25 at Detroit.

General Manager Dave Taylor said the league has discussed banning trades during the Olympic break but has not reached a decision.

TODAY

Kings at Mighty Ducks

* Noon

* Channel 11

Site--Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim.

Radio--XTRA 690, KRLA 1110, KCKC 1350, KPLS 830.

Records--Ducks 17-25-8, Kings 21-19-8.

Series--Kings lead, 1-0.

Update--The Ducks have won two in a row. The Kings have a four-game winning streak, including a 3-2 overtime victory Jan. 12 over the Ducks. Selanne leads the NHL with 35 goals. His next goal will be the 250th of his career. Kariya has four goals and four assists in the last two games. After scoring seven goals in five games before the All-Star break, the Ducks have 12 in the last two. The Kings haven’t won at the Pond since Nov. 13, 1995, and are 0-4-1 over their last five games at Anaheim. Luc Robitaille is two points from becoming the sixth left wing in NHL history to record 1,000. John Bucyk, Bobby Hull, Michel Goulet, Frank Mahovlich and Brian Propp are the others. Vladimir Tsyplakov has a career-high five game scoring streak.