Ducks Step Forward, Sink Sharks

If nothing else, the Mighty Ducks proved Friday at the Arrowhead Pond that they can defeat the San Jose Sharks on the ice.

Now the question is, can the Ducks overtake the Sharks in the standings and claim a Western Conference playoff berth?

“I have a good feeling,” Teemu Selanne said after scoring twice to lead the Ducks to a 4-2 victory before an announced crowd of 16,573. “I can’t promise anything. It’s not my style.”

Selanne grinned broadly, then made an off-the-record comment. Take one guess what he said about the Ducks’ playoff chances.

“If we lost this game, we’re still in the race but we would need so much help,” he added for the record. “Now, we’re in the race.”

Friday’s victory, which ended a 0-2-2 winless streak, moved the ninth-place Ducks within four points of eighth-place San Jose. The Ducks also are six points behind the seventh-place Edmonton Oilers, who defeated the Ottawa Senators, 4-2, Friday.

A loss Friday would have all but eliminated the Ducks, a fact Paul Kariya didn’t want to ponder at game’s end. An eight-point deficit with 10 games left would have killed the Ducks’ chances.

“It’s a huge win for us,” Kariya said. “It wasn’t pretty, but we got two points.”

In fact, the game threatened to spiral out of the control of referee Don Van Massenhoven, who was working the game solo. Two plays by the Sharks infuriated Duck Coach Craig Hartsburg.

In the first period, San Jose captain Owen Nolan kicked Duck defenseman Pavel Trnka’s legs out from beneath him. Trnka suffered a sprained ankle and will be sidelined for an undetermined number of games.

In the third, Shark defenseman Bryan Marchment speared Kariya in the stomach. Kariya was not injured on the play, which happened after he spun away from Marchment with a slick move behind the San Jose net.

Marchment received a five-minute spearing major and a game misconduct.

“It was a dirty game,” Hartsburg said. “I can’t understand why the league sent only one referee here. It was a bad decision by the league. Two dirty hits. We’re going to send in tapes on both. The last two years, we’ve kept our mouths shut. We’ve had some tough suspensions. The league has to take a look at these.”

Given the tight race, you can almost forgive Hartsburg for seeking any edge he can against the Sharks. But the plays by Nolan, who was not penalized, and Marchment certainly warrant a look by Colin Campbell, the NHL’s punishment czar.

Marchment, whose reputation runs the gamut from cheap to dirty, had no comment at game’s end. San Jose Coach Darryl Sutter said he believed the sanctions against Marchment were too harsh.

“He did it twice,” Kariya said. “He did it once on the forecheck, then tried to get me when I made the move. . . . That’s the way they play, chippy.”

Added Pierre Gauthier, Duck president and general manager: “It looked like [Marchment] was trying to leave [Kariya’s] guts on the ice.”

Friday’s game was the last of six this season between the teams, so any further hostilities will have to wait until next fall. The Ducks, 4-1-1 against the Sharks this season, took the best shots San Jose could offer and kept skating.

Selanne gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead midway through the first period, scoring his 34th goal in 68 career games against the Sharks. He swept around the San Jose net and launched a point-blank backhander that eluded goalie Steve Shields at 9:46.

Fredrik Olausson converted on a two-on-two break with Ladislav Kohn, tapping a cross-ice pass past Shields for a 2-0 Duck lead 4:29 into the second period.

San Jose’s Alexander Korolyuk and Marcus Ragnarsson botched the coverage on the play. They both went to Kohn as he neared the net, leaving Olausson uncovered.

Oleg Tverdovsky’s power-play goal at 13:32 of the second increased the Duck lead to 3-0. The three-goal lead didn’t last, however.

Todd Harvey and Jeff Friesen rallied the Sharks with third-period goals. But the comeback fell short when Selanne scored an empty-net goal at the buzzer.

“After the second period, everyone talked in the dressing room,” Selanne said. “Let’s not change the way we’re playing. Let’s put the puck in the right spots. Blah, blah, blah. Great talk. I don’t know when we’re going learn not to do this.”