Kariya Lifts Ducks, Can’t Carry Them

Ready or not, fit or not, Mighty Duck captain Paul Kariya was determined not to let his teammates venture into the Temple of Doom without him. Hadn’t they suffered enough with him sidelined for more than a month because of a broken right foot?

“I said, ‘Do you want to talk after the skate?’ ” Coach Guy Charron said of approaching Kariya before Friday’s morning skate at Joe Louis Arena.

“He said, ‘No, I’m ready to go.’ He’s our captain. If he says he’s ready, he’s ready. I’m sure he’s had a lot of anxiety about sitting out so long.”

There were encouraging signs all around Detroit for the Ducks with Kariya back in the lineup, but none of them on the scoreboard at game’s end. The Red Wings rallied from a two-goal deficit to take a 3-2 victory from the Ducks before an announced crowd of 19,995.

Kariya’s mere presence enabled the Ducks to score twice in a strong first period in which they built a 2-1 lead, a victory in itself.

With the Red Wings focused on Kariya, who was skating toward the left goal post, center Tony Hrkac faked a cross-ice pass to him before whipping a point-blank shot past Manny Legace with 4:40 left in the opening period.

Detroit keyed on Kariya again less than a minute later, leaving right wing Teemu Selanne to slip a cross-ice pass to trailing defenseman Pascal Trepanier on right wing. Trepanier sent a missile past Legace for a 2-0 lead with 3:46 left.

The lead wouldn’t last and the Ducks dropped to 2-12-2-1 since Kariya was injured blocking a shot in a 3-1 victory Dec. 17 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. It also was their fourth consecutive loss.

Doug Brown, on a short-handed breakaway, Steve Yzerman and Sergei Fedorov (power play) scored for Detroit, which is 12-1-3 all-time against the Ducks at Joe Louis Arena. And that’s not including four playoff victories over Anaheim.

Yzerman’s goal 4:20 into the final period was his 1,591st point, moving him past Phil Esposito into sixth place on the NHL’s career list.

A marginal roughing penalty against defenseman Vitaly Vishnevski on Brown set up Fedorov’s go-ahead goal with 6:03 remaining. But the Red Wings had seized control of the game by then and you got the feeling that it was only a matter of time before they powered away for the victory. Detroit outshot the Ducks, 16-5, in the final period.

“We had a good start,” Kariya said. “We played well in all three periods, but we backed off a little bit to start the third and allowed them to capitalize. We played better defensively, but against a team like Detroit, all they need is a couple of chances.”

Kariya had only one shot on net while playing 23 minutes 15 seconds opposite Selanne on the Ducks’ top line. But it was a doozy of a backhander on a breakaway with the score tied at 2-all midway through the final period.

Kariya attempted to lift the puck over Legace’s left shoulder, but the goalie gloved the shot mere seconds after Guy Hebert thwarted Darren McCarty on a one-timer in the slot. Suddenly, Kariya was behind the defense, zooming in alone on Legace.

“I should have gone to the forehand,” Kariya said. “I still made a pretty good move, but I didn’t get it upstairs. He took the bottom half of the net away.”

Asked to evaluate his play after only three practices this week for preparation, Kariya said, “My wind was pretty good. My legs kind of gave out on me. Physically, I’m in good shape, but I have to get into hockey shape.”

The Ducks on Friday were without forwards Mike Leclerc (knee), Marty McInnis (groin) and Steve Rucchin (concussion) and defensemen Niclas Havelid (season-ending knee surgery) and Ruslan Salei (concussion). Leclerc and Rucchin skated with the team Friday morning, but there is no timetable for their return.

So even a less-than-100% Kariya in the lineup gave the Ducks an enormous lift against the Red Wings.

“Of course I’m happy,” Selanne said. “I always get to play with great players, but there’s nobody like Paul. I really want to help him and he really wants to help me. Having him back is going to be a great confidence boost.”