Kariya Finally Does a Hat Dance and So Do Ducks After 5-2 Win

Paul Kariya took extra care with his sticks as he prepared for the Mighty Ducks’ game against Buffalo on Friday night.

After all, he was in a slump.

Kariya’s slump is just about anybody else’s hot streak, of course. But he broke out of the longest goal drought of his career with the first hat trick of his career, scoring three goals in the Ducks’ 5-2 victory over Buffalo in front of 17,174 at the Pond.

“He’s had that slump, and I told him, ‘As soon as you get one goal, you’re going to get three right away,’ ” Teemu Selanne said.

“It’s nice,” Kariya said. “But you think, why is it three goals that’s such a big deal? Why not four? Or two? But it’s a nice feeling.”

There were other milestones. The victory was the 100th in franchise history, as well as the 100th of Coach Ron Wilson’s career, making him the only other expansion coach besides Tampa Bay’s Terry Crisp to coach a team from its inception and reach that mark with a franchise that started from scratch.

The Ducks’ 100th victory came in their 256th game. Overall, they are 100-133-23.

The Ducks also set a team record for most shots in a game with 52, outshooting Buffalo by 31 shots.

Incredible as it seems, Kariya’s first three-goal game didn’t come until the 157th game of his career. He scored 50 goals last season and 80 overall without a hat trick until Friday, though he has scored three goals in an exhibition game.

He hadn’t had a goal in his last eight games, although he was hardly ineffective, with nine assists in that stretch.

“He’s been snake-bit a little bit,” Wilson said of Kariya. “He had some great chances against John Vanbiesbrouck [the other night against Florida] and early in the game Dominik Hasek stopped him cold. But like Paul said, if you get chances and you keep shooting, you’ll eventually get one.”

“I was getting lots of chances every game,” Kariya said. “Five, six shots. Sooner or later, one’s going to go in. I tried to stay positive.”

Kariya also had an assist against Buffalo, setting up Selanne, who scored for the fourth consecutive game and added two assists. Selanne has goals in seven of the last 10 games, and has 24 goals overall.

Kariya’s first goal, a short-handed one, gave the Ducks a 2-1 lead in the second period, but Buffalo tied the score a couple of minutes later when Brad May deflected a power-play shot at 18:02.

With the score tied, 2-2, in the third, Kariya was open at the right post when a shot by Steve Rucchin slipped free after Dominik Hasek made the first save. Kariya corralled the puck with his skate, kicked it to his stick and lifted it into the top of the net over Hasek, who was already down.

That gave the Ducks a one-goal lead at 4:36 of the final period.

Kariya threw a pass to Selanne through the slot for a 4-2 lead, then scored his third goal of the game at 9:06 to start a shower of hats.

Kariya set up at the corner for that one too, and Rucchin assisted again, his third assist of the game.

The goal was Kariya’s 15th in 29 games and gives him 43 points.

“As much as you say your team played bad, Kariya was awesome,” Buffalo Coach Ted Nolan said. “He was jumping all over the puck. That’s why he’s going to be a superstar.”

Buffalo hadn’t lost two games in a row since early November, and had lost only once in its last 11 games before being beaten by the Kings, 6-3, on Thursday.

For a club-record eighth consecutive game, the Ducks scored the first goal. This time, Brian Bellows put them on the board at 8:45 of the first period, and the lead held until 10:55 into the second, when Randy Burridge scored short-handed to tie the score.

The 100th victory was some thing to Wilson.

“If I had taken the advice of a lot of people I know, I wouldn’t have taken the job,” he said. “Oftentimes an expansion job is your last job.

“Thank God I didn’t take their advice. It’s great to get the 100th win, and the second 100 will come a lot quicker now.”