ANALYSIS : Ducks Reaching Expansion Expectations : Hockey: Averaging out the extremes, Anaheim has proven to be competitive in the first quarter of the season.

So what did you expect? The Stanley Cup?

Twenty-one games--a quarter of the NHL season--have passed and the Mighty Ducks have proven to be your typical expansion franchise.

They have been good some games, bad in others, but most often they have played somewhere between. Call them mediocre if you like. They’re not as woebegone as the Ottawa Senators were last season, but they haven’t kept up this season with the Florida Panthers either.

The Ducks are on pace to win 24 games. Three more victories and they will pass the 1974-75 Washington Capitals, the worst expansion franchise in NHL history with an 8-67-5 record. Five more and they will pass last season’s 10-70-4 Ottawa Senators, the second-worst.

They are ahead of San Jose’s debut pace of 17 victories in 1991-92 and Tampa Bay’s (23 victories last season).

Can the Ducks catch Florida? Heck, can Washington catch Florida?

The Panthers are 8-10-3 after their first 21 games. That’s good for fourth place in the Atlantic Division, ahead of the fifth-place Capitals, and seventh in the Eastern Conference. If the playoffs started today, the Panthers would be playing Pittsburgh. What’s more, they’re on pace to win an expansion-record 32 games.

What’s hurt the Ducks most? Why do they lead only Edmonton in the Pacific Division?

Let’s start with seven one-goal losses. At that pace, they will lose 28 one-goal games.

There’s more, starting with:

OFFENSE

Remember, the Ducks were not built to play fire-wagon hockey. And with first-round draft pick Paul Kariya electing to play for the University of Maine and the Canadian Olympic team this winter and third-round pick Valeri Karpov unwilling to sign, the Ducks have even less offensive punch than initially believed.

After 12 games, they averaged two goals per game, awful even by defensive-minded, expansion standards.

But Coach Ron Wilson teamed Peter Douris, Anatoli Semenov and Garry Valk on a line, and it has responded with 35 points in the past 10 games. The Ducks have averaged almost four goals per game for the past eight. Semenov, who had 44 points for Vancouver last season, leads the Ducks with 21. Semenov, Bob Corkum--perhaps the biggest offensive surprise--and Terry Yake share the team lead with seven goals each.

The Duck offense is getting better, but its 59 goals is still better than only Tampa Bay (49), Hartford (54) and San Jose (56).

Grade: C+

DEFENSE

When the Ducks stick to their tight-checking game plan, they play well. When the defensemen try to be too creative on offense, they often run into trouble.

Two cases in point: Sean Hill has 11 points, but is a minus 9 and Bill Houlder has 13 points, but is a minus 10.

On the other hand, Mark Ferner, who couldn’t win a job in Ottawa last year, has been a pleasant surprise. Alexei Kasatonov hasn’t been the heart and soul of the defense as many expected, but he has still played well.

This grade might be higher if not for some crucial late-game defensive lapses, notably against Vancouver on Nov. 14 and San Jose on Oct. 31.

Grade: C+

SPECIAL TEAMS

Once near the bottom of the league, the Ducks’ power-play efficiency has improved to 13th (17 for 91, 18.7%). Troy Loney leads the team with four power-play goals, but he is out three weeks because of knee surgery. Semenov and Valk each have three. Two noteworthy problems: The Ducks are five for 35 on the road and have allowed four short-handed goals. Three have been particularly costly, leading to losses at Calgary and Vancouver and a tie at home against the Flames.

Grade: C-

They rank 10th in penalty-killing at 82.8% (15 goals allowed in 87 short-handed situations). They haven’t given up a power-play goal on the road since Oct. 23 at Montreal. Until giving up a power-play with 16 seconds left in their 4-2 victory over Edmonton Sunday, they had killed 23 consecutive short-handed situations on the road. Moreover, Team Goon, as the Ducks came to be known during a fight-filled exhibition season, has the league’s second-lowest penalty-minute total.

Grade: A-

GOALTENDING

What’s not to like here? Guy Hebert and Ron Tugnutt have shared the starting job, playing well enough to make it difficult to pick a clear-cut starter. Is that a problem? The goalies say it’s difficult alternating because they can’t get a roll going. Said Wilson: “Somebody’s got to be No. 1. If you play average you’ll alternate. If you play above average you’ll stay in goal, win or lose.”

It’s likely you’ll again see Mikhail Shtalenkov, who started twice before returning to San Diego of the IHL.

Grade: B+

COACHING

First-year team, first-year coach. The Ducks have praised Wilson, an assistant to Vancouver Pat Quinn for three season, and opponents from Boston to Vancouver admire their tough, hard-working style of play. Wilson has managed to remain positive without going overboard. It seems to have rubbed off.

“Ron Wilson has really done a good job the last few days telling us that if we have a lead we deserve it,” Valk said. “Sometimes maybe we don’t think we do. He’s getting us to believe in ourselves.”

Grade: A-

A Quarterly Report:

1991-92 1992-93 1993-94 Category San Jose Tampa Bay Ottawa Ducks Florida Record 3-17-1 9-10-2 1-19-1 6-13-2 8-10-3 At home 3-5-1 6-5-0 1-7-1 3-7-2 4-7-2 On road 0-12 3-5-2 0-12-0 3-6-0 4-3-1 Points 7 20 3 14 19 Goals for 52 77 43 59 60 Goals against 104 70 108 76 65 Avg. home att. 10,888 9,727 10,468 16,452 13,493 Final record 17-58-5 23-54-7 10-70-4 ---- ----