Ducks, on Little Rest, Are Rude to Guests

Memo to Commissioner Gary Bettman and the TV executives who dictate the NHL playoff schedule:

Continue to tell the Mighty Ducks they must play every other day. In fact, order them to play every day, and twice on Sunday.

Their eighth game in 15 days was their finest performance yet, a strikingly efficient 5-0 rout of the Colorado Avalanche in the opener of the teams’ second-round series.

Although the bruises from their seven-game victory over Calgary were still fresh, the Ducks on Friday found the strength to outplay the Avalanche on every inch of the ice, to win every physical battle, squeeze a power-play goal and perfect penalty killing out of their special teams and support rookie goalie Ilya Bryzgalov’s second consecutive shutout. From grand gestures to small, subtle moments, the Ducks played an impeccable game, better even than their last two victories against the Flames.

“It feels like we’ve been doing this for two months now,” said winger Chris Kunitz, who scored the Ducks’ second goal and set up the third.

“We just keep the energy level up and we’re riding the emotion.”

To Teemu Selanne, who contributed a goal and two assists, the short rest between the end of the first round and launch of the second round was perfectly fine.

“In Game 7 in Calgary we really played well, and this was a carryover from that,” he said. “Sometimes it’s good not to have time to think.”

If they’d had time to think about their tired legs and heaving lungs, they might not have been able to muster the second and third and fourth efforts that were the foundation of their victory on Friday, a domination the Avalanche could only admire.

“They stood up to Calgary and won every battle tonight against us,” Colorado defenseman Rob Blake said. “We’ve got to find a way to get that in our game.”

The Ducks got energy and verve into every stride. They knew they had to be persistent against the Avalanche, which had disposed of the Dallas Stars in five games and hadn’t played since last Sunday, and the Ducks owned the game from the opening faceoff.

Duck Coach Randy Carlyle played all four of his lines and all six of his defensemen, spreading the burden and allowing players time to catch their breath on the bench and prepare to play yet another high-tempo shift. They found the tenacity to make one more effort to hem an Avalanche forward along the boards and the clarity of mind to create chances when Colorado’s defensemen tried to block their shots.

“The little things add up to big things,” said winger Todd Fedoruk, who returned to California hours before the game after flying to Philadelphia to be with his wife for the birth of their daughter early Friday morning.

“Winning the loose puck battles, penalty killing, everything. In the Calgary series we learned that important lesson.”

Kunitz was as successful at those little things as anyone on the Ducks.

Late in the second period, with the Ducks holding a 2-0 lead and Todd Marchant in the penalty box, Kunitz used his body to shield the puck along the boards and prevent Blake from taking it away and starting an offensive foray. Two of Blake’s teammates had to come in to help him, and even then, the best they could do is get a whistle and a faceoff.

Kunitz, who had scored the Ducks’ second goal by tapping in his own rebound, set up the third, with 54.4 seconds left in the second period, by winning the puck in a scrum and passing to Selanne, whose backhander sailed over Jose Theodore’s glove.

“This was a big win for us, coming off Game 7 with just a short break,” Kunitz said. “It builds team morale. We carried our emotions from that into this game.”

Said forward Travis Moen: “When you’re playing every other day and there’s not much practice, you can prepare well. We might be a little tired, but at least we won.”

They won handily, but, as Selanne and Kunitz said, they permitted themselves 10 minutes to enjoy it before turning their minds to the next task. That, of course, comes on Sunday afternoon, which will be their ninth game in 17 days.

Just keep ‘em coming, Moen said. “Every other day, I like it,” he said, smiling. “We’ll get a day’s rest and get back at it.”

Scott Niedermayer, who averaged 29 minutes, 31 seconds’ ice time in the first round, said he felt fine on Friday after playing 22:51 and absorbing hit after hit from Avalanche players intent on following the Flames’ lead and trying to wear him down. Colorado had as little success at that as Calgary did.

“We have four lines that we’re able to play, and that keeps everyone fresh,” he said. “And this is the situation we’re in, so we have no choice,”

Asked if he wanted to maintain this every-other-day pace indefinitely, he was quick to smile and shake his head negatively. “We get a rest, we’ll enjoy that,” he said.

But no rest is coming for the weary. Or the Ducks, who don’t seem to need it.