Finally, There’s a Glimmer of What Team Could Be

There were flashes Sunday of the good, old days and nights at the Arrowhead Pond.

It has been quite a while since Duck wingers Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne played with the sort of zip they displayed in Sunday’s 2-2 tie against the Carolina Hurricanes. They created scoring chance after scoring chance, but clicked only once--on Selanne’s team-leading 21st goal 37 seconds into the game.

But there certainly was a different look to their game. Their speed and flair with the puck were in evidence again.

“We’re close to breaking through,” Kariya said after playing his seventh game since sitting out 16 because of a broken right foot. “We’ve played well the last couple of games. We had a lot of chances tonight. It’s starting to come back. I was just trying to survive in my first few games back.”

Kariya scored twice in the Ducks’ 4-3 loss Friday to the Washington Capitals. He assisted on Selanne’s goal Sunday and fired five shots on net, including two in overtime.

“We’ve got the fire back,” Selanne said. “We could have easily had five or six goals tonight. We’re excited to play together again. We want to make a big difference for the team right now.”

Selanne, who had a game-high nine shots, also praised center Tony Hrkac. It was Hrkac’s cross-ice pass that set up Selanne for an easy tap-in from near the right goal post.

“Tony has great vision,” Selanne said. “He can play with anybody. He’s done a great job for us this year. He’s been a big boost for us. I knew that pass was coming. It was a great pass.”

The Hurricanes, particularly defenseman Glen Wesley, were focused on a cutting Kariya in front of them. They forgot Selanne, who sneaked behind them to score.

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Center German Titov suffered a bruised shoulder when Carolina defenseman Dave Karpa slammed him into the end boards with 3:43 left in the second period. Karpa earned a five-minute boarding major. Titov departed for the dressing room and could not return to the ice. His status is day to day, according to a team spokesman.

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Sunday’s game was the 600th in franchise history. The Ducks are 231-289-76-4 for a .454 winning percentage in seven-plus seasons, which puts them second behind the Florida Panthers among the expansion teams of the 1990s and 2000s. The Panthers, who joined the NHL with the Ducks in 1993-94, are 240-253-99-7 for a .494 winning percentage.