Lupul’s Play Positive Sign

The education of Mighty Duck rookie Joffrey Lupul continues.

In a season of general underachievement, Lupul will be held up as one of the signs that the Ducks can be better next season -- barring a lockout. He had two assists in Sunday’s 6-3 victory over the Kings, extending his point streak to three games.

An indication of how well he has played was apparent in the reaction afterward by Coach Mike Babcock, who usually downplays Lupul’s accomplishments for what is believed to be fear of spoiling the rookie.

But after the King game, Babcock said, “I thought Lupul had a [heck] of a game for us.”

Impressive about Lupul’s recent production is his timing. He has five points -- three goals, two assists -- in the last three games, all in the third period.

Lupul assisted on the Ducks’ last two goals Sunday, one with a slick pass that set up Vaclav Prospal’s one-timer that gave the Ducks a 5-3 lead.

He scored two third-period goals in a 4-2 victory over Edmonton on Wednesday, both after the Oilers had cut the Duck lead to one goal.

In a 2-1 loss to the Kings on Saturday, he was benched for much of the second period after his turnover led to a King goal.

Lupul, though, roared back in the third period, scoring the team’s only goal and twice nearly tying the score in the last 10 minutes.

“He’s a pretty talented player,” team captain Steve Rucchin said.

“You can’t teach some of the things that he does,” he said. “He’s pretty natural in most of the goal-scoring abilities. I think he’s going to be a star in this league in years to come.”

Lupul, the Ducks’ first pick in the 2002 draft, has 12 goals and 28 points this season, becoming the fourth Duck rookie to score at least 10 goals.

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Forward Mike Leclerc sat out Sunday’s game after aggravating a hip injury Saturday.