Ducks Primed for Main Event

Mercifully, almost a month’s worth of tuneups is finally over for the Mighty Ducks. Now, it’s on to bigger, better and far more difficult challenges.

Having defeated the troublesome Nashville Predators, 3-2, Friday at the Arrowhead Pond for their franchise-record-tying sixth consecutive victory, the Ducks get a crack Sunday at the Detroit Red Wings.

That’s the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings, by the way. The game will be shown nationally on ESPN at 5 p.m.

Is there a better way to determine whether the Ducks are a contender or a pretender?

And is there a better opportunity for right wing Teemu Selanne to showcase his superb offensive skills?

There is no hotter team or player in the NHL than the Ducks, who won their 12th in 15 games Friday, and Selanne, who has at least one goal or assist in 15 consecutive games.

To be sure, Friday’s victory moved the Ducks one step closer to a postseason berth and two points closer to the fading Phoenix Coyotes, who lead the Ducks by a mere three points in the fight for fourth place in the Western Conference.

The Coyotes, who have lost nine of 10, led the Ducks by 17 points as recently as Feb. 14.

Defeating Nashville also enabled the Ducks (29-25-9) to move four games over .500 for the first time in their six-season history.

However, good against the likes of Nashville, the Kings and the San Jose Sharks is one thing. Good against the Red Wings, 14-3-5 in their history against the Ducks, is another.

The plain fact is the Red Wings are the first .500 team the Ducks will face since defeating the Coyotes, 5-1, Feb. 14 at Phoenix.

“We’ve got to play a lot better than the last two games,” Duck captain Paul Kariya said, referring to Friday’s victory and Wednesday’s 2-1 victory over the Kings. “If we put that kind of effort on the ice against Detroit we’re going to get killed.”

Heaven knows the Ducks might have been forgiven for fixing their gaze on Detroit instead of the Predators.

But the Ducks had been down that bumpy road before, overlooking the Predators in two losses earlier this season at Nashville Arena.

This time, the Ducks had Nashville sized up properly, building a 2-0 lead thanks to first-period goals from Selanne and Jeff Nielsen.

Selanne’s goal extended his point streak to a franchise-record-tying 15 consecutive games. It also gave him an eight-game goal-scoring streak, tying him with Buffalo’s Miroslav Satan for the NHL’s longest streak this season.

“He’s just in a goal-scoring zone right now,” Kariya said of Selanne. “He’s probably played a better all-around game [in the past]. Offensively, everything he’s doing is so good.”

Nielsen’s goal was the first of two he scored Friday. He also had a third-period goal that gave the Ducks a 3-1 lead at 9:03. Coach Craig Hartsburg then had Nielsen on the ice late in the game, hoping he might score a third goal.

“It’s not too often I score one goal, then to score two and to get put out there with a couple of minutes left and the chance to get the hat trick, I had to giggle,” Nielsen said after his first two-goal game in the NHL.

Of a possible hat trick, he added, “That would have been a little too much to ask for.”

A little more than 12 minutes after Nielsen’s first goal, Selanne added a power-play goal, whistling a slap shot from the top of the left faceoff circle past Nashville goalie Mike Dunham.

Duck goalie Dominic Roussel played well with Guy Hebert receiving a night off. Roussel made several key saves, particularly in the second period when Nashville buzzed his net repeatedly.

But he had no answer for Tom Fitzgerald’s slap shot midway through the second period that gave Nashville a big lift and trimmed the Duck lead to 2-1 at 11:50. Cliff Ronning also scored for Nashville.

“They’re a tough team to play against,” Hartsburg said of the Predators. “There’s no sense disrespecting them. They’ve proved over the course of the season that they’re a good hockey team.”