Ducks Making Waves but Gaining Little

The two highest-scoring hockey players left in Southern California both have Anaheim addresses, and the Mighty Ducks seem to have everything they need to make the playoffs--except perhaps time.

The Ducks’ 5-2 victory over Montreal on Wednesday at the Pond of Anaheim was their fifth in nine games since trading for Teemu Selanne. Some games Selanne leads the way; this time it was Paul Kariya, who a few weeks ago was the Ducks’ only dangerous scorer.

Kariya scored two goals--his 35th and 36th of the season--and added an assist as the Ducks finished a two-game season sweep of the Canadiens.

Nevertheless, they didn’t gain ground on the Winnipeg Jets, who remain five points ahead of the Ducks in the race for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot. The Ducks did pass Dallas and Edmonton, at least for the moment, and are tied with the Kings and Edmonton for ninth.

“The key thing is how bad it was a month and a half ago, and now we’re five points out,” winger Todd Krygier said. “With Teemu and Paul, you can be down a goal or two and always have hope. Not that we didn’t have hope before, but we know even moreso that one of those two guys can come through.”

The Ducks have a one-two scoring punch where they used to have only Kariya’s jabs. Both are among the NHL’s top 15 scorers and both are on their way to 100-point seasons for a team that had never had more than a 52-point scorer.

“When we went through that stretch where we were scoring one or two goals a game, I felt pressure to produce,” Kariya said. “Now, when I have an off night like against San Jose, he scored a hat trick.”

Selanne and Kariya clicked on a five-on-three power play in the third period for Kariya’s 36th goal of the season.

With Montreal’s Vincent Damphousse gone for the rest of the game with a five-minute major and game misconduct for slashing David Karpa in the face, and Mark Recchi in the box for slashing, the Ducks made good on the two-man advantage. Selanne zipped a pass to Kariya through the narrow opening between goalie Jocelyn Thibault and defenseman Pete Popovic and Kariya made good on the chance.

The Ducks jumped ahead, 2-0, in the first period, but let Montreal get back to 2-2 by 6 1/2 minutes into the second.

Montreal, which hasn’t won a road game in the two weeks, pulled back into a 2-2 tie. With only 59 seconds left in the first period, Martin Rucinsky went around Duck defenseman David Karpa, then pushed the puck past Mikhail Shtalenkov, perhaps with a little help from Shtalenkov’s stick.

With 6:29 gone in the second, Montreal’s Chris Murray picked up the puck off the stick of the Ducks’ Todd Krygier and got it to Andrei Kovalenko in the slot. Kovalenko’s shot hit Shtalenkov in the left shoulder and went in.

Duck Notes

Wayne Gretzky is gone, but Duck Coach Ron Wilson believes--or hopes--that hockey is entrenched in Southern California. “It’s not like because Wayne left it’s going to go back to being a hockey desert again,” Wilson said. “Hockey is certainly not dead here; it’s growing. . . . I know how star-conscious Southern California is. Taking away the brightest star, I hope that doesn’t take away the fans. We’re poised with Teemu [Selanne] and Paul [Kariya]. We have two of the brightest up-and-coming stars in the game.” . . . . Former Duck Robert Dirk, who broke his shoulder Jan. 22 in his first game after being traded to Montreal, has played one game since the injury but will sit out another 10 days to fully recover. “What can you do? It was bad luck, bad timing,” Dirk said. . . . Right wing Jim Campbell, acquired in exchange for Dirk, has appeared in 11 games, scoring three points.