Ducks Change for the Better

The Mighty Ducks rediscovered their passion, their enthusiasm, their fire Monday, taking out their frustrations on the New York Rangers in what was easily their best effort of the new season.

The Ducks certainly were not flawless, but using their speed, skill and smarts, they subdued the slow-starting Rangers, 4-3, before 18,200 at Madison Square Garden.

Captain Paul Kariya scored his first goal of the season and assisted on another. He scored a team-leading 42 goals and 86 points last season, but had only one measly assist this season before Monday.

Marty McInnis scored on the power play, and Andrei Nazarov and Mike Leclerc also scored for the Ducks (2-2-0-1). Leclerc’s goal, which came on a bad-angle flip from near the right corner that sneaked through goalie Kirk McLean’s pads at 12:19 of the final period, proved to be the game winner.

Dominic Roussel, subbing for Guy Hebert, stopped 25 shots. And the Duck penalty-killing unit blanked the Rangers three times before Jan Hlavac’s power-play goal with 57 seconds left made things a bit more intriguing.

Suddenly, all is well again in Duckdom. Amazing what 60 minutes worth of skating, passing and shooting will do for a struggling young team.

“We had a change in attitude,” Kariya said. “We decided to take the game to the other team. We haven’t made plays, really, all year long.”

Unlike the first two periods of Saturday’s 4-2 loss to the Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils, the Ducks pushed the pace against the slower Rangers and were rewarded with a three-goal lead midway through the second period. The Ducks did everything they talked about doing during their postgame players-only meeting Saturday.

First, McInnis redirected Kariya’s slap shot from near the blue line into the net for a power-play goal and a 1-0 lead 10:39 into the game. Kariya then worked himself free of defenders to whip a one-timer from the slot past McLean at 9:05 of the second. Teemu Selanne set up Kariya with a quick pass from behind the goal line. Thirty-two seconds later, Nazarov accepted a quick pass from Ladislav Kohn and scored on a short shot through traffic.

Things got a little dicey in the final period, but Leclerc’s first goal of the season (his team-leading fifth point) quickly restored order. The Ducks also proved they could be resilient when put under stress by an opponent with momentum.

Theoren Fleury had just banked a centering pass off Duck defenseman Ruslan Salei and past Roussel to cut the lead to 3-2. Instead of folding like a tortilla, the Ducks increased their pressure on the Rangers and Leclerc produced an equally fortunate goal 2:09 later.

“It was a test,” Roussel said after winning in his first start of the season. “It was a bad bounce [on Fleury’s goal], but a good response by everybody.”

The Ducks continued to wheel and deal the puck like nothing had happened. Leclerc suddenly found himself alone in the right corner and put the puck on net. His quick shot struck the inside of McLean’s right leg and ricocheted into the back of the net to give the Ducks a 4-2 lead.

“In the third period, we looked nervous at times,” Coach Craig Hartsburg said. “For the most part, we played hard, though. I thought when it was 3-2 we were OK. When it was 4-2, we forced some plays. At the end, we were scrambling around when they had that power play. But that usually happens.”

The Ducks weren’t sound in such situations at times last season, including a 4-3 overtime loss March 8 in Anaheim against the Rangers. In that game, Hlavac tied the score in the final two minutes and Brian Leetch won it for the Rangers in the five-minute extra period.

Monday, the Ducks made one final stand after Hlavac’s goal. Although they generated considerable pressure with McLean on the bench in favor of a sixth skater, the Rangers did not record another shot on net in the final 57 seconds.

“We knew it was a matter of time before we started to score,” Hartsburg said. “Especially with Paul and Teemu, it’s just a matter of time. It’s going to happen. They’re going to score.

“But we got some great goals from other people, too. Nazarov scored a big goal and Leclerc’s goal at that time of the game was huge.”

And there were other contributors. Center German Titov had his best game of the season, according to Hartsburg. Defenseman Vitaly Vishnevski delivered several thunderous checks, including one that knocked both Leetch and Michal Grosek against the boards in the third period.