It’s Easy to Forget Hapless Canucks

The Mighty Ducks passed one test by beating Detroit on Sunday, their seventh consecutive victory. They face two more this weekend, at Dallas and Phoenix.

But before that is tonight’s game against Vancouver. The danger is the Ducks might overlook the Canucks, who are 1-6-3 in their last 10 games.

Not that Coach Craig Hartsburg isn’t working to prevent that from happening.

“Coach told us what makes Dallas such a good team is they play the same no matter who they are playing,” left wing Jim McKenzie said. “Everyone plays well against the good teams. But what makes a good team is playing well against everyone.”

The Ducks have had winning streaks stopped by lesser competition this season.

“It has been a problem in the past,” left wing Paul Kariya said. “There have been times where we were not ready to play. There is a numbing effect now. When game time arrives, boom, everyone goes out and does their job.”

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Backup goalie Dominic Roussel was numb for a moment in practice Tuesday. Roussel took a shot in the head from Matt Cullen during one drill and dropped to the ice.

“For a moment, I saw stars,” Roussel said. “I just needed to make sure I was all right. You can get a concussion from that. All I got was a little headache.”

TONIGHT vs. Vancouver 7:30, Fox Sports West 2

* Site--Arrowhead Pond.

* Radio--KDIS (710).

* Records--Ducks 30-25-9, Canucks 19-35-10.

* Record vs. Canucks--1-1-1.

* Update--Goalie Kevin Weekes, acquired from Florida in the Pavel Bure deal two weeks ago, will make his second start for the Canucks tonight. He is 0-1 this season and 0-6-1 lifetime. Teemu Selanne has scored at least one point in 16 consecutive games.

* Tickets--(714) 740-2000 or (213) 480-3232.