Clever Ducks Do Homework

It wasn’t officially “Win Back the Fans Night” at the Arrowhead Pond on Wednesday, but it might as well have been. Funny thing, it could have worked.

Tuxedoed Michael Buffer--the “Let’s get ready to rrrruuuuumble” guy--introduced the Mighty Ducks before their home opener. There were fireworks, cheers and a 3-0 victory over the Boston Bruins, who played the role of tomato can to the hilt.

Rest assured, it’s going to take more than one victory over a road-weary team that was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs last season to ignite hockey fever in Orange County again.

It won’t be easy to erase memories of a 26-43-13 record last season and the other disappointments following Ron Wilson’s abrupt firing as coach May 20, 1997.

But by game’s end, there was at least a hint that matters have improved under new Coach Craig Hartsburg and new team President/General Manager Pierre Gauthier.

There wasn’t much to make the sellout crowd of 17,174 cranky. The fans showed up in good cheer, they bellowed at times and were rewarded with a resounding victory.

“I thought this was one of the more solid games we’ve played in the six years I’ve been here,” goaltender Guy Hebert said. “This is only one game, but hopefully we can build on this.”

Stars of the game?

Pick one. Or two or three.

Left wing Paul Kariya scored a goal in his first game at the Pond since he suffered a season-ending concussion last Feb. 1.

Rookie defenseman Mike Crowley had three assists.

And Hebert stopped all 26 shots he faced for his 17th career shutout as the much-maligned defensive corps played superbly in front of him.

In fact, for a time during training camp, it appeared “much-maligned” was part of the official moniker of the Duck defense. But no longer. The Ducks have limited the opposition to only nine goals after five games.

“I can’t tell you how many times I saw a forward come back and break up a three-on-two break tonight,” said Hebert, who stretched his shutout streak against the Bruins to 131 minutes 37 seconds.

Offensively, the Ducks swarmed the Bruins--playing the final game of their five-game trip--right from the start. The Ducks broke open a close-checking game with two power-play goals less than a minute apart late in the second period.

And just think, the Ducks went into the game with only one power-play goal in 21 chances with the man advantage. But that was typical of the way it went for the Ducks on Wednesday.

Kariya scored the first power-play goal, giving the Ducks a 2-0 lead from the right goal post. Selanne slipped him the puck from the left wing, but it was deflected into the air.

Unfazed, Kariya swatted the puck into the net at 14:51.

“I never played baseball, so my hand-eye coordination is not as good as other guys who have,” said Kariya, who thought of his goal more as a bunt than a home run. “[Hartsburg] put the bunt sign on and I laid it down.”

It was virtually the same site as Kariya’s last goal at the Pond. Unlike Feb. 1, Gary Suter was not there to cross check Kariya in the jaw and sideline him for the season’s final 28 games because of post-concussion syndrome.

The Ducks increased their lead to 3-0 when defenseman Fredrik Olausson scored on a slap shot that trickled between Boston goalie Byron Dafoe’s legs.

Tough guy Jim McKenzie scored the game’s first goal and Kariya delivered a thunderous first-period check against Boston defenseman Ray Bourque.

McKenzie, acquired from the Phoenix Coyotes because of his fists, showed he can do more than fight with those hands. He scored by shoveling a rebound past Dafoe, a former King, in the final minute of the first period.