Kariya or Not, Mighty Ducks Are No Longer Fit to Be Tied

The Mighty Ducks just can’t seem to score many goals without unsigned free agent Paul Kariya.

It doesn’t mean they can’t win games without Kariya as they proved by defeating the Edmonton Oilers, 2-1, Friday at the Pond.

Just when it seemed the Ducks might tie their third game in the past four, defenseman Dmitri Mironov supplied the game-winner with a wrist shot from the high slot with 1:04 to play.

Mironov took a pass from Teemu Selanne just inside the blue line, used teammate Kevin Todd as a screen and beat Edmonton goaltender Bob Essensa with a high shot.

The victory, coupled with the news of the first face-to-face meeting between team president Tony Tavares, General Manager Jack Ferreira and Kariya’s agent, Don Baizley, left the crowd of 16,565 in good spirits.

Little was resolved Thursday in Chicago, but it was a sure sign there is now a sense of urgency on the part of the Ducks to get the all-star left wing signed soon and back in the lineup.

As if playing without perhaps the league’s top player wasn’t reason enough for the summit meeting between team management and Baizley, there remains the matter of scoring goals.

Or rather not scoring goals, as the case has been.

They seemed to be performing all the little tasks with great efficiency Friday against Edmonton. Their defensive play was sound. Guy Hebert looked sharp in goal. Passes clicked. There were plenty of shots and scoring chances. The penalty-killing unit suffocated the Oilers.

But something was amiss.

Goals.

Try as they might, however, the Ducks simply couldn’t alter their method of operation and produced another lackluster offensive effort.

To be sure, this game wasn’t a defensive-dominated game as past ones against the neutral-zone-trapping Boston Bruins and Ottawa Senators had been.

There were plenty of end-to-end rushes this time. The Ducks simply couldn’t seem to finish their chances.

However, the goal-starved Ducks caught a break Friday because the Oilers have been in a similar offensive rut.

Both teams are averaging fewer than two goals per game, but at least the Ducks have a ready-made excuse: two-thirds of their top line was missing in action again Friday.

Without Kariya and center Steve Rucchin, who has been sidelined five consecutive games because of a groin strain, the Ducks must count on Selanne and hope for a bit of luck.

Coach Pierre Page again made do with only 11 healthy forwards. Keeping track of his line combinations wasn’t an easy chore, although he often shuffles the deck even under the best of circumstances.

Page double-shifted Selanne, who played with rookie center Espen Knutsen and veteran winger Tomas Sandstrom to form the top line. Selanne also played on a checking line with center Mark Janssens and left wing Ted Drury.

Defenseman Jason Marshall also took a turn on right wing midway through the first period, teamming with Knutsen and Sandstrom to give Selanne a rest.

Like previous games, scoring chances were few and far between and it took a fortunate bounce for the Ducks to seize a 1-0 lead at the 9:50 mark of the first period.

Edmonton’s Todd Marchant lost control of the puck as he skated behind the Duck net on his way down the left wing.

The puck squirted loose to Duck center Sean Pronger, who fed a pass into the high slot to defenseman Darren Van Impe. Essensa appeared to be screened by Scott Young on the play and Van Impe’s shot went over his left shoulder and into the net.

The Ducks carried the play to the Oilers after Van Impe’s goal, his first, but couldn’t build their first two-goal lead when Essensa stopped Selanne on a breakaway in the final minute of the second period.

Boris Mironov, Dmitri’s brother, scored for the Oilers with 6:26 to play in second period.

Later, the Ducks won a faceoff in their own zone. Selanne had Essensa down and out of position, but couldn’t get enough lift on his shot to score the go-ahead goal and the teams went into the third period tied, 1-1.