Hebert Enjoys Parents’ Night

Paul and Carole Hebert don’t often get to see their son, Guy, live and in goal for the Mighty Ducks. It is, after all, a long haul from the family home in Troy, N.Y., to the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim.

When they do watch him in person, good things happen. Hebert knows his all-time record with his parents in attendance, but he wouldn’t divulge it Tuesday night.

“My mom and dad are pretty good luck charms,” Hebert said, breaking into a broad smile after a 2-0 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs before a crowd of 19,148 that included his parents at the Air Canada Centre.

“All I know is they’re going to be in Montreal [for Thursday’s game] and I might make them go to Ottawa [Saturday], too.”

But what about Monday against the Detroit Red Wings? It’s the fourth and final game of the trip.

“I might have to put them on the plane to Detroit,” Hebert said, chuckling after the Ducks ended a 10-game winless streak (0-6-4) at Toronto.

If the Ducks play as well as they did Tuesday against the Maple Leafs, Hebert might have to persuade General Manager Pierre Gauthier to bring his parents to all the team’s games.

After 16 games this season, the Ducks can finally say they played an efficient 60-minute game. The Ducks stuck to their game plan, pestered the Maple Leafs into mistakes and handled the puck with a little extra tender loving care.

OK, so it was more like 59 minutes, 30 seconds of standout hockey. After all, the Ducks almost gave up a goal in the opening moments of the game.

But after a sluggish first shift in which Toronto missed an empty net, the Ducks were superb until the final buzzer.

Hebert stopped 19 shots for only the Ducks’ second victory at Toronto. Hebert also defeated Toronto, 1-0, on Dec. 15, 1993, his first shutout as a Duck.

Wingers Marty McInnis and Paul Kariya scored for the Ducks, who seemed to have a quality scoring chance on each of their 24 shots Tuesday.

Ted Donato outraced a pair of Maple Leafs in the attacking zone, spotted McInnis alone in the slot and slipped him the puck. McInnis’ quick shot whistled past Toronto goalie Curtis Joseph on the stick side at the 7:48 mark of the second period.

“I was screaming to him,” McInnis said of the play that resulted in his fifth goal. “It felt like I was wide open, but I know the defenseman got a piece of the shot.”

Kariya scored his seventh goal with 13 seconds remaining in the game after Joseph had been pulled in favor of a sixth skater.

The final margin might have been wider, but Kariya, McInnis and Fredrik Olausson each had shots deflect off the goal posts.

Kariya’s near miss came during a scoreless first period. McInnis and Olausson hammered shots off the posts seconds apart while the Ducks were on a second-period power play.

At game’s end, a Toronto reporter dared to call the game dull in the presence of Duck Coach Craig Hartsburg.

“Some clown didn’t like the game because he thought it was boring,” a miffed Hartsburg said after the reporter left the area. “I guess they’re used to seeing Toronto freewheeling with the puck. We didn’t allow it. I thought it was a great game for us.”

The Ducks used their speed to set up scoring chances. The Maple Leafs were forced to use their speed to defend against the Ducks. It made it difficult for the Maple Leafs to manage any sustained offense after the first period.

Toronto’s top line of Steve Thomas, Mats Sundin and Jonas Hoglund combined for only three shots on net. Sundin, who had three goals in three games since returning from a broken ankle, had one first-period shot and that was it.

Kariya had five shots and right wing Teemu Selanne four as the Ducks won the matchup of top lines.

Hebert handled the few chances Toronto had with ease en route to his second shutout of the season.

“Guy was really good for us early on,” Hartsburg said. “The first 10 minutes, he held his ground.”