Ducks in the Swing of Things

It could have been, and probably should have been, a nice little warmup for the playoff-bound Mighty Ducks and San Jose Sharks in their regular-season finale here Saturday night.

And for the first period of the teams’ 3-3 tie in front of a sellout crowd of 17,483 at San Jose Arena, the Pacific Division rivals played it safe and sane. No muss, no fuss. No tough checks, dirty looks or punches in the mouth.

But the Ducks built a three-goal lead only 2:39 into the second period, and then the rough stuff started. Sticks were raised, punches were thrown and. . . . Holy smokes!

Was that really Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne fighting a pair of Sharks midway through the five-minute overtime period?

Yes it was, and they were holding their own, too.

Selanne first wrestled with and later traded punches with San Jose’s Owen Nolan and Kariya fought Shark pest Alexander Korolyuk in what turned out to be the main event.

All four were given roughing minors instead of fighting majors by referee Dan Marouelli, who appeared to be in a forgiving mood. Kariya and Korolyuk did not drop their gloves, but they certainly threw a few punches.

“We had an Ali tape on in here [the dressing room] before the game,” Kariya said. “I got inspired.”

Cracked Coach Craig Hartsburg: “We put him out there to score, but he wanted to fight.”

After wobbling through their final nine regular-season games with a 2-5-2 record, the Ducks finally seemed ready for the postseason late Saturday night.

Rumbling with Korolyuk, an energetic but chippy player, certainly should get Kariya ready for whatever abuse Detroit defenseman Chris Chelios has in mind when the Ducks and Red Wings begin their first-round playoff series later this week.

“I thought it was great that we stuck up for each other there at the end of the game,” Kariya said. “We should have won the game. But the regular season is over now. I thought we’ve been flat since we clinched a playoff spot against the Rangers [April 2].

“I think we’re looking forward to the playoffs now.”

Dates and times of the best-of-seven series will be announced today, but Game 1 is expected to be Wednesday at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. The Ducks’ preparations began Saturday.

Hartsburg spent the afternoon watching videotapes of the Red Wings. He also did his best to fake out a pair of Red Wing scouts who attended the Duck-Shark game, shuffling his lines and defense pairings.

Instead of giving Kariya and Selanne the bulk of the playing time, Hartsburg spread the shifts around. Enforcers Stu Grimson and Jim McKenzie got plenty of ice time.

Backup goalie Dominic Roussel started his second consecutive game in place of Guy Hebert, who also didn’t play in Thursday’s 4-3 overtime loss against the Kings.

“This is the best time of the year for everybody,” Hartsburg said. “It’s very intense. It’s a lot of fun. It’s hockey at it’s best.”

The Ducks seemed content to skate up and down Saturday against the Sharks and did so efficiently in building a 3-0 lead early in the second period. McKenzie, Kariya and Tomas Sandstrom scored for the Ducks.

Selanne did not add to his league-leading total of 47 goals, but he did have two assists for his 106th and 107th points. Kariya also had an assist to push his point total to 101.

The Sharks countered with second-period goals from Korolyuk and Joe Murphy to trim the Duck lead to 3-2 at the 12:14 mark. San Jose also decided it was time to start hitting the Ducks, and the game turned violent.