On Block, Sykora Lifts Ducks

Petr Sykora may not be with the Mighty Ducks for long, but he may have found his game while they still have him.

The veteran forward has been shopped in the last few days but put his shaky status aside to score a goal and add an assist Saturday night in sparking the Ducks to a 5-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre.

It has been a tumultuous week for Sykora in a difficult season. A six-time 20-goal scorer, the left wing had four goals coming into the game and was held out of Thursday’s loss to Buffalo while General Manager Brian Burke worked on a trade.

At the moment, the Ducks are happy that nothing was accomplished.

“I don’t know what his situation is but he came out there and was determined to make something happen tonight,” captain Scott Niedermayer said. “Hopefully we can all play like that.”

Sykora met with Coach Randy Carlyle to clarify his status and the two agreed that he should be put on a scoring line with center Andy McDonald and right wing Teemu Selanne.

The Ducks (13-12-5) got the desired effect against Montreal, which had a week of rest. The trio accounted for six points. McDonald and Selanne each had two assists.

“You have to have all three guys on the same page,” Sykora said. “When you play with two players like Mac and Teemu, it’s so much easier to create scoring chances and get yourself some scoring chances.”

Said Carlyle: “That’s exactly the response we’re looking for.”

The Ducks stunned a sellout crowd of 21,273 with three goals in the first period. The checking line of Tyler Wright, Todd Fedoruk and Zenon Konopka provided the first goal when rookie Konopka scored off a feed from Wright.

Montreal’s Richard Zednik tied the score, but Sykora, who missed five games last month with a groin injury, followed with his first goal since Oct. 28 when he put in a rebound past Jose Theodore after the goalie stopped McDonald.

“It doesn’t really look like it, but that was one of the bigger goals I’ve scored,” Sykora said. “At least it feels like it.”

Ruslan Salei made the score 3-1 with his first goal of the season on a slap shot from in front of the blue line off another rebound allowed by Theodore. Jonathan Hedstrom and Rob Niedermayer also scored to help goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere win for the first time in three starts in his hometown.

Giguere, who bought a suite for members of his family to watch the game, made 21 saves and the Ducks won in Montreal for the first time in seven years.

“It’s very special,” he said. “It’s not easy to win here. They’ve got a good team here. I’m real happy with how the guys played tonight.”

The Ducks, who pulled to within one point of third-place Phoenix, have gotten three points on a three-game trip that concludes Monday in Toronto.

And as far as he knows, Sykora will continue to be a part of the trip.

“I can’t control these things ... “ he said. “What I’m looking for is to be in Toronto as a Mighty Duck. That’s how I have to look at it.”