Kariyas Compete on Even Terms

Well, perhaps some kind soul will edit the videotape as a keepsake for T.K. and Sharon Kariya.

Then they won’t have to sit through all those icing and offside calls while waiting for glimpses of their sons, Paul and Steve, working their magic Wednesday.

Backyard scrimmages at the Kariya home in North Vancouver, Canada, probably had more sustained excellence than the Mighty Ducks’ 2-2 tie against the Canucks before 12,488 at the Arrowhead Pond.

“I’m sure the family is really happy with that,” Steve Kariya said. “I know my grandparents wanted a tie. They got their wish. Both of us [Steve and Paul] wanted a win for our teams.”

Although their teams sputtered, coughed and wheezed at times, Paul and Steve did their family proud in their first NHL game against each other.

Paul Kariya, 25, had a power-play goal for the Ducks. Steve, 21, one of six rookies in Vancouver’s lineup, assisted on the Canucks’ first goal.

Asked if his brother said anything to him during the game, Steve Kariya said, “That’s not the Kariya way. We keep our focus, shut our mouths and play.”

Paul said he was impressed with his brother’s play.

“It’s the first full game I’ve seenhim play in the NHL,” Paul Kariya said. “He played exceptionally well. He used his speed. He created a lot of scoring chances.”

The Canucks led, 1-0, and 2-1, but the Ducks rallied twice and forced overtime on Steve Rucchin’s goal at 5:27 of the third period. Rucchin’s goal was the second of two Ducks power-play goals, their first in eight games.

Paul Kariya set up a hard-charging Niclas Havelid for a point-blank shot while the teams were skating four-on-four in overtime. But the Duck defenseman missed the net in the final minute.

Steve Kariya got the jump on his big brother, setting up Markus Naslund’s first-period goal that gave the Canucks a 1-0 lead 6:32 into the game.

It certainly wasn’t the toughest shot Duck goalie Guy Hebert has faced in recent games, but the puck slipped by him and into the back of the net.

Paul Kariya rallied the Ducks, whistling a slap shot from near the blue line off a defender’s stick and into the net at 11:24 of the second period.

“Lucky goal,” he said.

It was a power-play goal, the Ducks’ first since Fredrik Olausson scored in a 4-2 victory Nov. 19 against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Twenty-five power-play chances came and went and the Ducks had nothing. Not surprisingly, the Ducks were 3-3-1 during their seven-game power-play drought.

Perhaps a new philosophy aided the Ducks against Vancouver.

“Changes on the power-play?” Coach Craig Hartsburg said at the morning skate, repeating a reporter’s question. “Hopefully, we’ll score. That will be a nice change.”

In a more serious tone, Hartsburg added, “We need the players to relax on it and have some confidence, rather than overloading them [with a new game plan]. Let’s relax and things will happen on it.”

More likely the Ducks’ success on the power play was due to Vancouver’s inability to kill penalties. The Canucks went into Wednesday with the league’s worst penalty-killing unit, successfully killing off 77.1% of their shorthanded situations.

Vancouver played it smart by staying out of the penalty box until Steve Kariya drew an elbowing penalty against Havelid at 10:33 of the second period.

Less than a minute later, Paul Kariya’s blast got the Ducks even at 1-all. The Ducks seemed poised to take over the game starting in the third period. They dominated play in the latter stages of the second period.

The Ducks promptly lost track of Bill Muckalt early in the third and he slipped the puck beneath Hebert for a 2-1 Vancouver lead at the 1:41 mark.

Rucchin got the Ducks even at 2-all, putting a quick shot behind Vancouver goalie Garth Snow for a power-play goal.

The Ducks suffered a key loss when defenseman Pavel Trnka left the game because of a groin strain at about the eight-minute mark of the second period.

His status is uncertain for Friday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche.