Ducks Record Capital W, 5-2

The Mighty Ducks dispatched the Washington Capitals swiftly and certainly Friday night at the Arrowhead Pond. Perhaps not in the same efficient fashion as in last week’s rout at Washington, but why quibble if you’re a Duck fan?

The result was the same, an easy victory.

The Ducks’ speed and skill were simply impossible for Washington to match and they took a 5-2 victory from the Capitals.

Paul Kariya scored two goals and had two assists, Teemu Selanne had one goal and three assists and defensemen Fredrik Olausson and Oleg Tverdovsky added goals for the Ducks.

Peter Bondra and Steve Konowalchuk scored for the Capitals.

The news was mixed on other fronts for the Ducks, who finally escaped last place in the Pacific Division with the victory.

Defenseman Ruslan Salei returned to the lineup after serving a 10-game suspension for injuring Dallas center Mike Modano with his now famous shove in the back Oct. 2.

But left wing Mike Leclerc underwent surgery Friday to remove a Bursa sac in his left elbow. Leclerc, who has four goals and five points in nine games, will be sidelined up to three weeks.

“It would have been a yearlong battle with it, so they just took it out,” Coach Craig Hartsburg said. “We were worried last week that this might happen. We tried a cautious approach with rest, but it’s swelled up again like a big ball at the end of his elbow.”

Tony Hrkac, acquired Friday from the New York Islanders, will fill the void until Leclerc returns. Hrkac, who can play either center or on a wing, will then give the Ducks added depth up front.

Salei’s return gave the defensive corps a boost.

“I’m a little excited, a little bit nervous,” Salei said at the morning skate. “It’s like starting the season again. I feel pretty good, but we’ll see what happens in the game.”

Salei did nothing to embarrass himself in his first game back in the lineup. He delivered a few tough checks, but they were legal and nothing to warrant attention by the NHL office.

He played a steady shift with Olausson, his defense partner for almost all of last season.

“It’s going to help me to be playing with Freddie again,” Salei said before the game. “It’s probably the best way for me to get back in the lineup.”

The announced crowd of 13,586 welcomed Salei back with a rousing ovation when he came on the ice for his first shift. The fans had plenty of other things to cheer about during a strong first period by the Ducks.

Kariya, Selanne and Tverdovsky scored first-period goals and the Ducks appeared headed for a second consecutive rout of the Capitals.

Washington wasn’t nearly as flat-footed as in the 7-1 loss Oct. 19 at the MCI Center. But what possible response could there have been for the tick-tack-toe pass from Selanne to Tverdovsky to Kariya that resulted in the Ducks’ first goal 5:24 into the game?

And what could goaltender Olaf Kolzig possibly have done differently on Selanne’s laser beam into the net for the second Duck goal at the 12:21 mark?

Kolzig was screened by a tangle of players on Tverdovsky’s goal with 34 seconds left in the first and had no chance to pick up the defenseman’s wrist shot from the right point.

This wasn’t the sort of start Washington Coach Ron Wilson envisioned for the Capitals, who are 0-4-1 in their last five. Wilson threatened to bench several key players after the Capitals squandered a two-goal lead in a 5-2 loss Tuesday to the Kings.

But Wilson decided against such extreme measures and kept his lineup intact for his return to the Pond, where he worked for four seasons as the Ducks’ first coach.

“You get emotional sometimes,” Wilson said. “You don’t like to lose any games. We haven’t played focused the last two or three games.”

Of coming back to the Pond, he said, “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have special memories of this place. I’m the Capitals coach now and I’m trying to win a game. You try not to let a game become personal, and it’s really not for me.”