Sykora Knows Score

Petr Sykora is hardly breaking into cold sweats at night. He has been through the ups and downs of the Stanley Cup playoffs before.

No goals. No worries.

Sykora, who scored 34 goals during the regular season to lead the Mighty Ducks, was blanked in the first-round sweep of Detroit. That ran his goal-less playoff streak to eight games. He last scored while with New Jersey in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals against Colorado -- two years ago.

“I’ve been through all this before,” Sykora said. “I went 14 playoff games without a goal, then I scored eight in eight games. It always comes and goes.”

It went against Detroit because of the emphasis the Red Wings placed on stopping Sykora and center Adam Oates. They have been teamed since January.

Sykora, a shot-happy free skater, was tied for fourth in the NHL with 299 shots during the regular season. He had 11 shots, but only a few quality scoring chances, in four games against Detroit.

He can expect more of the same from the Dallas Stars, the Ducks’ opponent in the second round. The series will likely begin Thursday in Dallas.

“I doubt he is going to get less pressure,” Coach Mike Babcock said. “I’m sure [the Stars] have looked at the stat sheet and said. ‘He scores a lot of goals, let’s be all over him.’ He’s going to get less space.”

Sykora has 22 playoff goals, nine coming in 2000 when New Jersey beat Dallas for the Stanley Cup, and 10 the next season, when the Devils lost to Colorado in the final. He went scoreless in four playoff games last season with the Devils.

While muzzling Sykora, however, the Red Wings found that other Ducks had some bite. Jason Krog, Stanislav Chistov and Samuel Pahlsson combined for five of the team’s 10 goals during the series.

“Those guys bought Pete time to find a way,” Babcock said.

Sykora scored 21 of his 34 goals after being teamed with Oates on Jan. 9, a span of 41 games. Paul Kariya often skated with them, giving the Ducks a potent first line.

“This is the time of year when you need contributions from your third and fourth lines,” Sykora said. “In New Jersey, it was John Madden who got big goals for us in the playoffs. But don’t get me wrong, I want to score goals.”

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Sykora’s last playoff game against the Stars was not a pleasant experience.

In Game 6 of the 2000 finals between New Jersey and Dallas, he was leveled by defenseman Derian Hatcher, who was skating backward and got all of his body into a check. It was a one-sided collision. Hatcher is 6 feet 5, 225 pounds. Sykora 5-11, 190.

Sykora was carried off the ice on a stretcher and taken to the hospital, staying overnight for observations. The Devils won the game and brought the Stanley Cup to him in the hospital.

“Thanks for the reminder,” Sykora said, smiling, when asked about the play.

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The Ducks have had a rough time playing in Dallas over the years but most of the torturing went on at the old Reunion Arena, where the Ducks won only twice from 1993-2001. They have won three of four games in the American Airlines Center, which opened last season.

“The old rink, it seemed like the fans were right on top of you,” winger Mike Leclerc said. “I know there are more people in the new place, but they sound farther away.”