Paul is appalled

Ducks captain Kariya frustrated by lack of scoring chances

Jean-Sebastien Giguere and Paul Kariya need to step up their play to get the Mighty Ducks back in the Stanley Cup finals. AP

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- Two games, one shot, two defeats. Paul Kariya's first Stanley Cup experience certainly isn't going the way he hoped.

The Anaheim captain and his teammates have been more sitting Ducks than shooting Ducks so far against New Jersey.

Kariya, who had 25 goals and 56 assists during the regular season, managed one shot in the first two games of the Cup finals, both 3-0 victories by the Devils.

"To go to New Jersey and not get a goal is not a good feeling to have, but even more so because we were just not generating chances," Kariya, who didn't have a shot on goal in Game 2, said Friday.

His lack of offense is typical of the Ducks as a team. Going into Saturday night's Game 3, they had gotten off only 32 shots at Devils' goaltender Martin Brodeur, 16 in each of his shutouts.

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"You have to give credit to the Devils, they're a great defensive team," Kariya said. "If you look at their record in past playoffs, they do a good job of keeping shots down. You don't see too many 30-shot games against them.

"Part of it that we haven't managed the puck and haven't been taking care of the puck when we have it. We've been turning it over and it's hard to generate shots or create offense when you're chasing the puck around all day."

Petr Sykora, who led Anaheim in scoring this season after coming to the Ducks last July in the trade that sent Jeff Friesen and Oleg Tverdovsky to New Jersey, has struggled in the first two games of the finals. He had two shots in the first game against his former teammates, zero in the second.

"We have to create quality shots," Sykora said. "We have to go at them more. This is unacceptable."

Anaheim has been outshot 55-32 by the Devils.

"In spurts, we have gotten some offensive opportunities, but not in any prolonged time when we were getting quality scoring chances," Kariya said. "They are obviously a trapping team, and if you pass the puck into their trap, your forwards can't make plays.

"They force you to make two or three good passes in the zone. We're not making one good pass, so we're not getting anywhere."

Anaheim coach Mike Babcock indicated he may try to force some different matchups in Game 3.

"Obviously through two games, we have some people who haven't been able to get on the board and generate the kind of offense we want. We have to do something about that," he said.

The Ducks haven't really even tested Brodeur, and Kariya, asked his impression of the Devils' goaltender, smiled and said, "We haven't seen him too much because we haven't had any shots. Hopefully, I can answer that question better the next game.

"Seriously, he's a great goaltender, and when we have got some shots against him, he's been there to make the saves," Kariya said. "It's what everyone expects from him."

 

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