Ducks Get Some Relief at Atlanta, 5-2

Head down, legs churning, Mighty Duck winger Dan Bylsma raced to the front of the Atlanta Thrashers’ net early in a scoreless game Wednesday at Philips Arena.

Linemate Ladislav Kohn whipped a low shot that goaltender Milan Hnilicka kicked into the left faceoff circle. Bylsma reached the loose puck first and, with a deft backhander, lifted it over the goalie’s left shoulder for his first goal in 65 games.

And that’s when you knew it would be the Ducks’ night.

The Ducks rolled to a 5-2 victory over the Thrashers before an announced crowd of 15,040 and ended their 0-4-1 winless streak. It also was the Ducks’ second victory in 13 games since left wing Paul Kariya broke his right foot Dec. 17.

“Enough is enough,” Bylsma said after the Ducks took out their frustrations on the Thrashers, who are 0-7-2 in their last nine games and were playing without suspended leading scorer Donald Audette.

In no way could Bylsma’s first goal since March 4 make up for the news Wednesday that defenseman Niclas Havelid would be sidelined for the rest of the season because of a torn knee ligament. The team also announced left wing Mike Leclerc would be sidelined for a month after damaged cartilage was removed from his knee.

However, it was encouraging for the Ducks to get contributions from unexpected sources such as Bylsma and defenseman Jason Marshall, who ended a 92-game goal drought by recording his first NHL two-goal game.

Backup goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 35 saves, including three critical ones while the Thrashers had a five-on-three advantage for two minutes early in the third period. It was Giguere’s first win in four starts as a Duck.

Center Tony Hrkac set up winger Marty McInnis for an easy tap-in on a two-man breakaway 3:36 into the second period, which gave the Ducks a 5-0 lead.

Center German Titov had a team-high five shots on net and assisted on the first of Marshall’s two power-play goals.

And right wing Teemu Selanne scored a pretty goal with a quick flick of his wrist while fending off Atlanta defenseman Jiri Slegr on left wing. Selanne also assisted on Marshall first goal.

Ahead by five goals early in the second period, the Ducks seemed tentative at times the rest of the way. But the Thrashers couldn’t muster more offense than goals by Ray Ferraro (power play) and Dean Sylvester.

“In the team’s defense, it hasn’t been in that position too often this season,” Coach Guy Charron said.

Indeed, goals by Bylsma, Selanne and Marshall gave the Ducks their first 3-0 lead after one period this season. Their 5-0 lead also was a first for 2000-01.

“We really needed this one,” Selanne said. “It was really good that so many guys were involved. Danny’s goal was a big one, for sure.”

Since training camp, the Ducks have talked about scoring more goals by converting on rebounds around the net. With Kariya and Selanne working their magic, the bulk of the team’s goals have provided highlight-reel fodder for many seasons now.

“We’ve been talking again about shooting the puck once we get into the offensive zone and going hard to the net,” Bylsma said. “It’s not necessarily a tick-tack-toe play, but that’s the way goals are scored in this league.”

Bylsma executed it perfectly, and the Ducks had a 1-0 lead only 6:51 into the third and final game of this quick East Coast trip. Selanne increased the margin to 2-0 by scoring his team-leading 16th goal at the 15:20 mark. Marshall’s first goal since March 18, 1999, on a laser from just inside the blue line, extended the lead to 3-0 with 1:26 left in the team’s best opening period this season.

Marshall and McInnis scored only 1:31 apart early in the second period and the rout was on.

“I can’t remember being up by that many goals and being able to relax and not worry about the score and just go out and work on improving some things,” Bylsma said. “We played a great game in Pittsburgh [a 3-2 loss Monday] and we’ve worked on a lot of things and have really improved, but we hadn’t seen the results.”