Ducks Are on Their Game

WASHINGTON —  The Mighty Ducks have been awesome and ordinary at times this season, sometimes on the same shift in the same game.

But Tuesday against the Washington Capitals, the Ducks shed their confounding ways. They were simply awesome in a 7-1 rout of the Capitals before an announced crowd of 10,522 at the MCI Center.

The Ducks’ dizzying speed left the slow-moving Capitals grasping at nothing but air as one forward after another sped past for easy scoring chances.

Unlike recent games, the Ducks actually finished their point-blank opportunities, building a four-goal lead on only 11 shots in the game’s first 26:40.

“Seven goals--that’s a lot of goals,” said defenseman Pavel Trnka, who had the Ducks’ first goal 3:09 into the game, in the understatement of the evening.

“That’s what we needed. We were saying to each other before the game that we’ve got to work even harder. We’ve done some good things so far this year, but we didn’t do enough.”

The Ducks accomplished plenty in winning Tuesday by their largest margin on the road in the franchise’s seven-season history. The Ducks had 24 shots on net, and all of them seemed to be terrific scoring chances.

Trnka, Teemu Selanne (who had two goals), Mike Leclerc (who also had two), Matt Cullen and Antti Aalto scored for the Ducks. Cullen, playing with a full visor to protect a broken right cheekbone, also had three assists for a career-best four points. The only mystery remaining after Selanne’s second goal of the game gave the Ducks a 5-0 lead 32 seconds into the third period was whether goalie Guy Hebert would earn his second shutout of the season.

Jeff Halpern’s first NHL goal ended Hebert’s bid at 2:41 of the final period, however.

By game’s end, it was difficult to tell what was better about the Ducks’ play: their speed with the puck or their speed without it. Certainly, the Paul Kariya-Cullen-Selanne line and the Leclerc-Aalto-Ladislav Kohn line stood out because of their flashy moves with the puck.

But the Ducks’ quickness at the other end of the ice also muzzled Washington’s skillful forwards, including Peter Bondra and Adam Oates.

“It’s important for us to use our speed,” Kariya said. “Good offensive players should be great defensive players. When we do that [play strong defense], we get more offense.”

Trnka’s first goal in 72 games put the Capitals back on their heels, and they never recovered. At times, as on Selanne’s first goal, the Ducks seemed to be toying with Washington.

Kariya set up the goal by whipping a pass from the right wing to the left. Defenseman Kevin Haller accepted Kariya’s pass, then sent the puck along the boards to Cullen, who fed it to Selanne cutting through the slot.

The puck moved far faster than any Capital skater and Selanne was uncovered as he slipped a backhander behind goalie Olaf Kolzig for a 2-0 Duck lead at 12:06.

Game over.

Well, almost. After all, there were still 2 1/2 periods to play. Nevertheless, the Ducks continued their dominance in building a 5-0 lead before the Capitals finally put one into the net.

“We stunk,” said Washington Coach Ron Wilson, who coached the Ducks for their first four seasons before getting fired May 20, 1997.

“We got an old-fashioned butt-kicking. We collapsed like a house of cards. Our defensemen looked they were skating in quicksand. [The Ducks] have incredible speed and you have to get back on defense, and we didn’t do that. It’s a system. If someone makes a mistake then the others support. We didn’t have support on offense or defense.”

The question now is whether the Ducks can bottle some of Tuesday’s energy and uncork it again Thursday against the Chicago Blackhawks in the fifth and final game of this trip.

“Our team has played well,” Kariya said. “Everyone has contributed, and that’s what we need. It’s always good for everyone’s confidence to have a game like this.”