The World - News from Dec. 24, 2001

Andy McDonald is a rookie, but he is centering the Mighty Ducks’ top line, so a goal or two by him now and then is expected.

What raised eyebrows was when Denny Lambert, better known for knocking people around, knocked in a backhander. Then Marc Chouinard buried a shot in front of the net. And Dan Bylsma assisted on both with slick centering passes.

The Ducks’ bump-and-grind line had the Coyotes looking a bit stunned, while the 13,815 fans in attendance mockingly cheered the next Duck shot, which goalie Sean Burke managed to stop.

The 51-second scoring splurge propelled the Ducks to a 4-0 victory Sunday. Three goals in 51 seconds, the fastest three in franchise history, from a team that at times this season has needed three games to score that many goals. That Paul Kariya wasn’t involved until he scored the fourth goal was even stranger.

The Ducks built a 3-0 first-period lead from a trio of players who had two goals between them.

“We were saving it for just before Christmas,” Lambert said. “We wanted to give coach a Christmas present, so we thought we would let loose tonight.”

Apparently, it is the gift that keeps giving.

Something about playing in Phoenix turns the Ducks upside down.

The fourth line of Lambert-Chouinard-Bylsma scored two goals in their last visit to the America West Arena--a 3-2 overtime victory on Oct. 24--with Chouinard and Bylsma scoring.

“Finally we get Denny Lambert a goal,” Coach Bryan Murray said. “Then Marc came back with one. It shows if you play hard and play intense, keep the puck low and work, people can score goals.”

The Ducks have won three of four games and are 6-5-1-3 since losing to the New York Islanders on Nov. 11.

Part of that success is because of goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who has allowed nine goals in his last nine games. He stopped 24 shots for his second shutout this season.

“Giguere is kind of discouraging [to opponents] the way he’s going right now,” Murray said.

“He makes stops and makes them look pretty routine at times. It gives us a boost and certainly doesn’t help the other team.”

Giguere had a wide margin for error Sunday. The Ducks scored four goals on their first 11 shots.

McDonald started things as he flew into the Coyote zone, spun 360 degrees, then whipped a shot that banked off the left post and into the net for a 1-0 lead 12:14 into the first period.

McDonald later had an assist, further evidence that he is benefiting from on-the-job training. McDonald has 10 points in 10 games since being recalled from minor league Cincinnati.

“He is obviously a great skater,” Kariya said. “He’s got good speed and he sees the game well. For him, it was just a matter of playing with confidence.”

There is no lack of confidence in Lambert, just a lack of goals. He hadn’t scored since Jan. 6, 2001, when he was with Atlanta.

That changed when he took a Bylsma pass and tucked in a backhander with a Coyote player draped all over him for a 2-0 lead 12:45 into the period.

“We are just happy to be out there contributing offensively,” Lambert said. “Usually our role is go out and create energy by checking like crazy.”

Just 20 seconds later, Chouinard beat Burke for a 3-0 lead after Bylsma dug the puck out the corner and centered a pass.

“Our main job is obviously not to get too offensive on this team,” Chouinard said. “We have some guys to do that.”

That main guy finished things up.

Kariya was knocked down by defenseman Teppo Numminen, who was called for a penalty. McDonald went into the Coyote zone, passed to Patric Kjellberg, whose shot was stopped by Burke and Kariya chipped in the rebound.