Ducks Finding It Easier to Play Out the String

Captain Teemu Selanne had a hat trick. Rookie Frank Banham scored his fifth goal in six games. Goaltender Mikhail Shtalenkov made a team-record 51 saves and recorded an assist.

There were smiles all around the Mighty Ducks’ dressing room after a 5-2 victory Sunday over Ottawa at the Corel Centre enabled them to escape last place in the Western Conference.

Amazing what happens when the pressure is off, when the Stanley Cup playoffs are hopelessly out of reach and everyone’s concentration is simply on his next shift.

That’s the Ducks’ story, anyway, and they’re sticking to it.

“We haven’t given up yet, but we know the playoffs are pretty far away for us,” said Selanne, who scored his 47th, 48th and 49th goals in his third three-goal game this season and the 14th of his career.

“We’re playing for ourselves right now. We’ve loosened up and we’re enjoying it more. I’ve never been a fan of must-wins. You want to win, but you want to have fun first.

“That’s a big difference why we’re playing like this now.”

Sunday’s victory was the Ducks’ second in a row and third in five games. They are 2-1-1 in the first four games of this seven-game trip.

The Chicago Blackhawks are next on the Ducks’ tour of North America, on Wednesday. It marks their first meeting since Chicago defenseman Gary Suter injured Paul Kariya with a cross-check to the jaw Feb. 1 at the Arrowhead Pond.

The hit sidelined Kariya because of post-concussion syndrome and altered the course of the Ducks’ season.

They might have to wait one night before offering their regards to Suter. He apparently is on the trading block, and the Detroit Red Wings, Thursday’s opponent, are reportedly interested in dealing for him before Tuesday’s deadline.

There was no news on the trade front Sunday for the Ducks, but any last-minute nerves seemed to be held in check.

Winger Scott Young, who--along with defenseman Dmitri Mironov--figures to be the most likely Duck to be dealt, cracked a joke about it Sunday.

“They can’t break us up now,” said Young, who had another strong game despite not getting a point.

Perhaps it’s an aberration, but suddenly the Ducks are hot. They owe much of their recent success to another of Selanne’s torrid goal-scoring streaks.

Selanne’s goals, which increased his NHL lead to six over Washington’s Peter Bondra, gave him six in the last three games. He had two in a 5-4 victory Saturday over the Montreal Canadiens and one in a 3-3 tie Thursday against the Philadelphia Flyers.

“It’s good for the people in the East to see this,” Coach Pierre Page said.

Center Travis Green, acquired Feb. 6 from the New York Islanders, agreed.

“I don’t think people know what a gifted player he is,” Green said. “From what I’ve seen, he’s the best goal-scorer in the league. I’m telling you, Teemu is in a league of his own. He’s got all these goals and people in the East don’t see him [because the Ducks’ games start so late in the West].”

The Ducks’ latest victory wasn’t all Selanne’s doing. Young and Green chipped in, but Banham and Shtalenkov stood out most of all.

As he did against Montreal, Banham scored the Ducks’ first goal. This time, he deflected what looked like a harmless shot from the right point by defenseman David Karpa past former Duck goalie Ron Tugnutt.

“A big lift,” Selanne said.

Shtalenkov, so shaky against the Canadiens, was sharp from the start against the Senators.

“I think maybe Teemu is right,” said Shtalenkov, who picked up the second assist on Selanne’s second-period breakaway that gave the Ducks a 4-1 lead at 18:07.

“Maybe we don’t have so much pressure right now, especially with all the young guys here. It’s a different team from last year. It’s a different team from the start of this year. They are trying something new and it’s working.

“Even if our chances for the playoffs are miserable, it’s nice to see smiling faces again after the games.”