Ducks’ Romp Is Almost Perfect

His shutout streak ended after 113 consecutive saves over the course of 191 minutes 47 seconds, spanning parts of four games.

But goaltender Guy Hebert shrugged and smiled after the Mighty Ducks’ 6-1 victory Wednesday over the expansion Nashville Predators at the Arrowhead Pond.

What, him worry?

“I don’t want to say which teammate came in here between the second and third periods and said, ‘Let’s get another shutout,’ ” Hebert said, chuckling and pointing at right wing Teemu Selanne. “Good thing I’m not superstitious.”

Life is good again for the Ducks, who are unbeaten in five consecutive games (4-0-1) after routing the Predators but failing to get Hebert his third consecutive shutout.

They missed by only 4:06, watching helplessly as former Duck tough guy Denny Lambert whacked a rebound out of midair and past Hebert. Bret Hedican’s goal at 9:07 of the third period of a 4-4 tie Dec. 9 against the Vancouver Canucks was the last time someone put a puck past Hebert.

What remained of an announced sellout of 14,222 cheered Hebert’s every move, particularly as the Ducks protected a six-goal lead in the third period.

When Lambert scored his second goal of the season, the fans roared their approval with a standing ovation.

Then, most of them beat it to the parking lot. After all, there wasn’t much sense sticking around to watch this wipeout.

“It really doesn’t matter much to me, but I’m sure it was exciting for the fans,” said Hebert, who stopped 38 of 39 shots. “The guys were doing such a good job in front of me, there were times I said, ‘Well, this is going pretty good.’ Whether it was 2-1 or 6-1, the important thing was that we got a big win.”

There aren’t many nights when Hebert could overshadow four-point games for Selanne and Paul Kariya and two goals for Travis Green.

But Hebert’s bid for a third consecutive shutout was the one and only bit of drama left after the Ducks built a six-goal lead by the end of the second period.

“We broke Hebert’s string,” Nashville Coach Barry Trotz said. “I guess that’s the only moral victory. Well, there’s two moral victories--we outshot them and we stopped Hebert’s string.”

So, how good was Hebert?

“When he’s on and you shoot the puck, the puck is sticking to him like Velcro,” Trotz said.

In fact, Hebert wasn’t tested very often Wednesday. The Predators’ scoring chances were few and far between until Lambert’s goal.

Unlike an embarrassing 3-1 loss Nov. 27 at Nashville, the Ducks left nothing to chance. They jumped on the Predators early and broke them with a four-goal second period.

Four of the Ducks’ first five goals Wednesday came on the power play, which tied a franchise record set last Dec. 27 against the St. Louis Blues.

“It certainly should be [that effective],” Coach Craig Hartsburg said when asked about the power play. “It can be. Tonight was as good as our power play has been all year.”

The Ducks had easy pickings against rookie goalie Tomas Vokoun, who was playing instead of injured starter Mike Dunham.

Jamie Pushor got the rout started 3:15 into the game, flipping a back-hander past Vokoun.

It was Pushor’s first goal as a Duck and first since last March 23, when he scored for the Detroit Red Wings. Detroit traded Pushor to Anaheim the next day and went without a goal for his first 38 games as a Duck.

Selanne then scored the first of four consecutive Duck power-play goals, converting on a back-hander at 6:11 of the first period.

Kariya assisted on all four second-period goals, setting up Selanne once, Green twice and Steve Rucchin once.

There was some bad news for the Ducks. Left wing Marty McInnis left the game early in the first period after suffering a cracked cheekbone when he was struck by a puck. His status for Friday’s game against the New York Islanders is uncertain.

Johan Davidsson also did not play after the first period because of illness. Antti Aalto did not suit up because of a bruised left shoulder, suffered Sunday when he was hit from behind by Jozef Stumpel of the Kings.