Best Start Leaves Team Cautious but Pleased

Eight games into their eighth season, the Ducks are off to their best start in their short history. They are 4-2-1-1 for 10 points, which wouldn’t get the heart racing in hockey hot spots such as Dallas, Denver or Detroit. But the Ducks are cautiously optimistic.

“We’re starting to play the way we want to play,” Coach Craig Hartsburg said. “The good thing about the Jersey game was the way we finished it.”

After getting blown out in the first two periods, the Ducks rallied from a four-goal deficit with a solid third period before falling, 4-2, against the Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils. The Ducks then went on a 3-0-1 unbeaten streak to end their five-game East Coast trip, skating more purposefully, going to the net harder and making smarter plays with the puck.

“It takes time,” veteran center Tony Hrkac said of learning how to win. “It took me 10-12 years. The year I was in Dallas [when the Stars won the Stanley Cup in 1998-99], it was unbelievable how much more I learned about playing. Just being around older guys like [Guy] Carbonneau and [Mike] Keane was unbelievable.”

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The Ducks are still working to resolve rights issues, so subscribers to DirecTV’s NHL Center Ice package will be able to view out-of-town games not shown in the Southland. The first three games of the team’s five-game trip were unavailable to subscribers. The final two were and Pierre Gauthier, team president and general manager, hopes to soon have all of the team’s games available.

The next three games are on either Fox Sports Net, Fox Sports Net 2 or Channel 9, but the Oct. 30 game against the Edmonton Oilers could be blacked out to DirecTV viewers unless a long-term solution can be found.

“We’re hoping everything will be resolved by then,” Gauthier said, referring to the Oct. 30 game. “We want our fans to see our games. It’s nobody’s fault. We have to find a way to resolve this.”

Tonight

Ducks vs. Kings, 7:30

Fox Sports Net 2

* Site--Arrowhead Pond.

* Radio--XTRA (690), KRLA (1110).

* Records--Ducks 4-2-1-1, Kings 3-4-2.

* Season series (1999-2000)--2-2-2.

* Update--The Ducks lead the all-time series, 17-15-7, and are 9-5-5 against the Kings at the Pond. The teams play each other again Wednesday at Staples Center. Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne each have four-game point streaks. Kariya has two goals and seven points, and Selanne has two goals and six points. Mike Leclerc leads the Ducks with three goals and eight points.

* Tickets--(714) 703-2545.