Selanne Making Believers of Ducks

Teemu Selanne sat on a table in the Mighty Duck dressing room. With one arm he held his 3-year-old son Eetu, a small, blond bundle of wiggle, a handful of energy in the arms of an exhausted man.

Selanne had just finished playing hockey with strength and verve and fury. If Selanne, who led the NHL in goals last season but has struggled so often this year to find his legs, his touch, his magic, had not scored two goals, the first two for his team, if he had not assisted on two goals, the last two for his team, then the Mighty Ducks would have pretty much eliminated themselves from the playoffs Sunday night.

Instead the Ducks beat the Phoenix Coyotes, 4-3, in overtime. The Ducks brought the Pond to life. The noise rattled and roared, the emotions soared. The winning goal came from young defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky with 1 minute 13 seconds left, and that’s the shot that will be replayed today.

But the pass, a zinger, that came from Selanne. And the first goal, after the Ducks had followed a humiliating 8-1 loss in Vancouver on Friday by falling behind, 1-0, less than two minutes into Sunday’s game, and 2-0 less than 10 minutes in, that came from Selanne. When the Ducks gave away that bit of momentum in less than 30 seconds, it was Selanne who told his teammates not to hang their heads, not to quit believing, not to quit skating and hitting.

And it was Selanne who scored 3:48 into the second period. Selanne used brute force to push defenders away, to create room for himself. This goal was the reinforcement to his words. “Believe me when I say don’t quit,” that goal said. “I believe it.”

The Ducks have teased us all season. Teased us with being never quite. Never quite good enough to really get excited about, never quite bad enough to totally lose faith in. Selanne has been that way too, sometimes playing on the edge of greatness, sometimes seeming to play without the legs, the strength, the extra gear of a great athlete.

“Teemu is a unique player, a unique person of unique character,” Anaheim coach Craig Hartsburg said. “He was battering people tonight. He and Paul [Kariya] have played so many minutes in the last few games and that’s what makes them great players, on another level.”

The Ducks are still searching for their level. With five games to play, they are tied for ninth with Vancouver in a race for eight Western Conference playoff spots. They are two points behind Edmonton, San Jose and Phoenix and have played at least one more game than every team they are fighting with for the playoffs.

Which is why the Ducks are off until a monstrous game with the Kings at Staples Center Saturday. Then there is a home game against Nashville, the worst team in the West; a road trip to Chicago, the second-worst team in the West, and Nashville; and then a season-ending home game against the Kings.

Having just played eight games in 13 days, the Ducks are tired. Normally they would be thrilled with five days off. But who can enjoy the time off when they must watch all their rivals play?

“Yeah, I’m going to watch those games,” Hartsburg says. “I’m going to watch, hope, get down on my hands and knees and pray.”

Yes, center Matt Cullen said, he would be watching San Jose play Edmonton tonight and at Los Angeles Wednesday; Phoenix play at Atlanta on Tuesday and Calgary on Friday; Edmonton go to Colorado on Wednesday after the San Jose trip; Vancouver play at Detroit on Wednesday and at Nashville Friday. He said he’ll find a place with a satellite dish and maybe take a cheat sheet.

Let’s see, who to root for? That San Jose-Edmonton game, it’s a wash; go Thrashers, beat Phoenix; go Colorado, beat Edmonton; let’s go Red Wings, kick Vancouver’s butt, and Nashville, you do the same. This isn’t easy.

And this whole week almost didn’t matter. Because, phew, the Ducks stunk at the beginning Sunday. Down 1-0 before most fans had settled into their seats. By the time the score was 3-1 Phoenix, a man buying beer at the Main Street Deli stand patted his son on the head and said, “This game’s over. Do you still want your Kariya jersey?” The little boy nodded. Yes he did. “I still love the Ducks,” the boy said.

And then Selanne acted as if he cared more than anyone about the playoffs, as if this game mattered more than anything in the world, that the season still mattered, that the playoffs could still be attained, even if entry were gained in desperation, an eighth-place finisher grasping at glory. Selanne attacked and the rest of the Ducks followed.

Phoenix goalie Sean Burke had sweat dripping from his nose, onto his chin, onto the ice because the shots kept coming. Hard and squirrelly, from improbable angles. But Burke kept making saves.

Burke allowed the Ducks to score twice more. The score became 3-3 early in the third period. The momentum was with the home team. The sellout crowd was frantic, on its feet, making noise. There was an energy at the Pond. People came back to their seats. Some of them had carried miniature TVs and could be found hanging around the doors and watching the Laker game, or the Academy Awards.

With 20 seconds left in regulation Kariya, standing behind the net, whipped a pass to Selanne and, in one windmill motion, Selanne slammed the puck at the net, at Burke, at the win. Selanne nearly had his arms raised in celebration. The puck was going too fast, too hard. But Burke made the save again and Selanne put down his arms. “I thought the puck had gone in and out, that I had scored,” he said. He hadn’t. The Ducks had outshot the Coyotes, 13-3, in the third period and for all that they got to play an overtime period.

And still they kept attacking. When Tverdovsky took Selanne’s pass, when his shot, so hard you could hear it, went in, Selanne did a little hop on the ice and then joined his teammates in a giant, moving, slithering, sliding celebration. Wonderful for a night, the Ducks now sit and wait and watch.

Diane Pucin can be reached at her e-mail address: diane.pucin@latimes.com