Duck Stars Stricken in Dallas

DALLAS — It’s true that the Mighty Ducks don’t have to be as good as the Dallas Stars to make the Stanley Cup playoffs. They can do it without ever beating Dallas, and they probably need only a .500 record, nothing like Dallas’ heady 12 games over .500.

But while the Ducks’ 3-1 loss to the Stars in front of 15,118 at Reunion Arena Wednesday was far from a disaster, it once again exposed their shortcomings.

The Ducks are too dependent on Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne, overly prone to taking bad penalties, and can’t count on their special teams.

“You’ve got to give their defense credit,” Duck Coach Ron Wilson said, adding that the Ducks played well for two periods. “It’s not any failure on our part. We tied L.A., we beat St. Louis, Dallas beat us, 3-1. Of course we want to beat Dallas, but you have to know we’re not going to win every game.”

On the other hand, the Ducks don’t win any games when Kariya and Selanne both play and are held without a goal or an assist, as they were Wednesday. The Ducks are 0 for 3 in such games this season. Fortunately, it is a rare occasion when neither one scores.

“Dallas played really well,” Selanne said. “They’re so good defensively. They know how to hold and hook at the right time. The way they play, there’s not much room out there.

“I think we played pretty good. We were working hard. A couple of mistakes, but overall I thought it wasn’t a bad game at all.”

Still, the only thing that kept the Ducks from being shut out by Andy Moog was rookie tough guy Peter LeBoutillier’s first NHL goal, which came with 4:17 left in the game.

Kevin Todd? He hasn’t scored a goal in the last 23 games. Jari Kurri? Like Todd, he has only eight all season.

Behind 3-0 after Sergei Zubov scored on a point shot after a faceoff 1:12 into the third period, the Ducks managed only three third-period shots even though they pulled goalie Guy Hebert for an extra attacker with 1:47 left.

“In the third period, we couldn’t get anything going,” Wilson said. “They played great defensively and we were a little out of gas. We weren’t able to penetrate at all.”

The Ducks were 0 for 3 on power plays, and Dallas scored twice with a man advantage, taking a crucial 2-0 lead in the second when Mike Modano scored after Duck defenseman David Karpa was whistled for cross-checking in front of the Ducks’ net after a Dallas scoring chance had been thwarted.

“We take bad penalties, needless penalties when the play has been decided,” Wilson said.

Karpa had made a good play to help stop a three-on-one. But the cross-check was a bad play he has made many times before.

“The guy’s standing there, it’s three-on-one, and he’s in the crease,” Karpa said. “I wanted to push him out and I wasn’t too sure where the puck was. . . . Clearing out the front of the net, that’s what I do. Other nights I can do it and not get called.”

Overall, Moog didn’t have to work as hard as Hebert, who made 29 saves, four more than the Dallas goaltender. LeBoutillier ended the shutout bid with a screened shot from the slot.

“I didn’t even think I’d get to this level,” LeBoutillier said. “To get a goal in my second game was sweet, something I’ll never forget.”

It was a game the Ducks lost, but not one Wilson would gnash teeth over.

“They’re better than the Mighty Ducks,” he said. “Anyone who analyzes it would say that.”