Anaheim

The Anaheim Mighty Ducks cleared another difficult barrier in their brief history as they finally defeated the Detroit Red Wings on the 13th try. Teemu Selanne and Garry Valk scored the tying and go-ahead goals 22 seconds apart midway through the second period of a 3-1 victory last night in Anaheim. It gave Valk, Bobby Dollas, Joe Sacco and Guy Hebert particular satisfaction, because they have been Mighty Ducks from the team's beginning in 1993. "I know it means a lot for the team and it means a lot for me personally," said Dollas, whom the Ducks selected from Detroit's roster in the 1993 expansion draft.

This was a big deal to Dominic Roussel, starting in goal for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim against the Flyers. The day before the game, he laughed it off, told California reporters he "got my revenge a couple of years ago," in 1996, when Roussel started for Winnipeg against his old Flyers teammates and won, 4-1. "Got that out of my system," Roussel said Tuesday. But last night, a few hours before the game, Roussel acknowledged 1996 wasn't the end of the story. "It's a pretty big deal," Roussel said.

The Wings broke a five-game losing streak with a 14-9 win against Anaheim last night at the Wachovia Center in front of 13,153 fans. Eight players contributed for the Wings, led by Ryan Ward and Jeff Ratcliffe with three goals each. Goalie Dallas Eliuk earned the win with 32 saves. "This is what we've wanted all season," Wings coach Adam Mueller said. "We moved the ball around and had a nice, unselfish attack. I couldn't be happier. " The Storm took the early lead in the first quarter with a goal by Chris Panos.

These Disney scripts just keep getting more and more unbelievable. First, they gave us Angels in the Outfield, the 1994 movie (a remake of a 1951 film) about heavenly beings providing divine intervention for the California Angels. Now, the folks at Disney - which owns the Anaheim team - have given us Angels in the World Series, the 2002 edge-of-your-seat thriller that stars a different player every day. In Game 5 of the American League Championship Series yesterday, the man of the hour was Adam Kennedy, a 26-year-old second baseman who did an uncanny impersonation of Reggie Jackson and triggered Anaheim's series-clinching 13-5 victory over the Minnesota Twins.

Pat Maroon finally breathed a sigh of relief yesterday. His pro career will continue in the Anaheim organization. More than 3 weeks after being sent home from the Phantoms because of "behavioral" and "attitude" issues, Maroon was traded. The Flyers sent him and forward David Laliberte to Anaheim for former Flyer Danny Syvret and prospect Rob Bordson. "I am looking forward to putting this behind me," said Maroon, a forward. "I don't have any hard feelings. I'm excited for a fresh, new start.

Nicklas Lidstrom had three assists and Chris Osgood made 25 saves to help Detroit beat visiting Anaheim last night, 3-1. Henrik Zetterberg, Mathieu Schneider and Kris Draper scored for the Red Wings, who have won four straight and six of seven. Osgood, who has been Manny Legace's backup this season, got his second straight win in his second consecutive start. Teemu Selanne scored for Anaheim, which had its three-game winning streak snapped. Zetterberg scored on the Red Wings' first shot just a minute into the game, when he beat Jean-Sebastien Giguere with a low wrist shot for his 34th goal.

The Flyers yesterday signed right wing Brian Wesenberg, whom they acquired in a March trade with Anaheim. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Wesenberg, 19, scored 25 goals and added 33 assists for 58 points and 161 penalty minutes in 66 regular-season games with the Guelph Storm, of the Ontario Hockey League last season. In two seasons with Guelph, he scored 42 goals and had 60 assists, for 102 points and 242 penalty minutes in 132 regular-season games. The 6-3, 180-pound native of Peterborough, Ontario, was selected in the second round (29th overall)

Instead of campaigning to ban South Park for young children, maybe all these parent groups ought to consider banning games in which the Flyers have to play the dregs of the NHL. That kind of contest consistently seems to bring out the worst in the Flyers. Such as last night's 3-3 overtime tie against the not-so-Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. The game was so bad that the Ducks were icing the puck early in the final period. That may have been because they don't have a defense in front of the net. Several things haunted the Flyers.

You could see the look of relief on many of the Flyers' faces yesterday during their afternoon skate at Oceanside Arena in Tempe. Their 4-3 victory late Wednesday over the lowly Mighty Ducks of Anaheim might not have registered as an NHL classic, but it snapped a three-game losing streak. "It was a huge, huge win, and I don't know if people realize that," said center Joel Otto, who expects to return to the lineup tonight when the Flyers face Keith Tkachuk, Jeremy Roenick and the Phoenix Coyotes.

Good things came in bunches for the Flyers last night at Arrowhead Pond against Disney's Mighty Ducks. They actually won a road game, 4-3. They also scored a power-play goal. Better yet, John LeClair and Mikael Renberg finally got their first goals of the season. Oh, did was it mentioned that the Flyers broke a three-game losing streak and even had to come from behind? Yep, they trailed by 3-2 going into the final period. Kjell Samuelsson, who scored against the Kings on Tuesday night in Los Angeles, nearly tied the game in the opening minutes of the third period, but the puck was spinning on the goal line, not across it. No problem.

BRENT SEABROOK sent a wrist shot past goalie Jimmy Howard's glove 3:35 into overtime to give the Chicago Blackhawks a 2-1 victory over the visiting Detroit Red Wings in Game 7 of their second-round Western Conference playoff series last night. The Blackhawks, who had the best record in the NHL regular season, rallied from a 3-1 series deficit to reach the Western Conference finals against the defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings. Games 1 and 2 are Saturday and Sunday in Chicago.

FLYERS GENERAL manager Paul Holmgren locked up two of his own on Wednesday, inking forwards Zac Rinaldo and Jay Rosehill to 2-year contract extensions. Rinaldo, 22, was due to become a restricted free agent in July. Though he's on the shelf for the season with a high ankle sprain, Rinaldo was consistently reliable-and responsible-as a pest for opponents. Rinaldo led the NHL in hits per 60 minutes (14.64) with 143 checks in just 258:06. "I'm just really honored to be a part of the organization for another 2 years," Rinaldo said.

The NHL suspended Anaheim Ducks right winger Corey Perry for four games without pay for a high, late check on Minnesota's Jason Zucker. Zucker was leveled Tuesday by a violent hit from Perry nearly a full second after he passed the puck. Montreal wins shootout Shootout goals by Alex Galchenyuk and Lars Eller lifted the Montreal Canadiens to their fourth consecutive win Wednesday night, a 4-3 victory over the visiting Ottawa Senators. Eller also scored in the first period, and Brendan Gallagher and P.K. Subban added power-play goals in the second for Montreal.

COREY CRAWFORD made 28 saves, and Andrew Shaw scored the only goal as the Chicago Blackhawks stretched their NHL-record, season-opening point streak to 18 games with a 1-0 victory over the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday night. Crawford earned his seventh NHL shutout and second this season in his first start since Feb. 12. He outdueled Columbus' Steve Mason, who stopped 26 shots. Shaw provided all the offense in the second period for Blackhawks, who haven't lost in regulation time this season and have earned 33 of 36 possible points.

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Drexel held off a second-half challenge Sunday to finish the DirecTV Classic with a 55-47 victory over Rice in the consolation round at the Anaheim Convention Center. Frantz Massenat scored a season-high 20 points for the Dragons (2-4). Damion Lee added 16 points and six rebounds. But Drexel squandered a 12-point advantage before recovering in the final 11 minutes. "We're not playing well," Dragons coach Bruiser Flint said. "I'm not going to panic because we're 2-4. We were in this position last year.

If you want to know what kind of impact Mike Trout's surreal rise to major-league baseball stardom has had on his hometown of Millville, N.J., just ask the mayor. "My mother is 88 years old, and she has completely changed her sleep schedule," said Tim Shannon, the 56-year-old mayor and former next-door neighbor to the Trout family. "She stays up all night watching Mike [play for the Los Angeles Angels] and then sleeps in until 10:30 or 11:30 in the morning. " The good news for Jean Shannon and all of Millville on Monday night was that they did not have to stay up late to see the 21-year-old Trout receive the American League rookie of the year award.

Ryan Suter's agent said the Nashville Predators defenseman will be hitting the NHL's free agent market. Neil Sheehy said he doesn't know where Suter will sign, but added the player will keep the Predators "in the mix. " Free agency opens at noon Sunday with Suter heading a short list of marquee players expected to be available. Also on that list is New Jersey Devils captain Zach Parise. Besides the Flyers, Detroit, Tampa Bay, Anaheim, and Edmonton are among the teams expected to have interest in the 27-year-old Suter.

LOS ANGELES - New Jersey coach Peter DeBoer shook up his lineup with the Devils down to their last gasp in the Stanley Cup Finals. Forward Petr Sykora and defenseman Henrik Tallinder cracked the lineup for Game 4 on Wednesday night. And the Devils pulled out a 3-1 victory to stay alive. The Kings lead the series, three games to one. Tallinder has been out since January because of a blood clot, but apparently was ready to play in this series. "Peter Harrold played great, gave us some good minutes," DeBoer said.

Chris Pronger is just as concerned with Mike Richards' back as he is his own. Pronger's back issues are medical. Richards' are figurative. In the wake of the Flyers' disappointing, second-round sweep at the hands of the Boston Bruins, a lot of chatter has taken place as to whether Richards is best suited to be the Flyers' captain. Pronger, who knows a thing or two about the demands and rewards of NHL captaincy, jumped to Richards' defense. Well, Pronger is 2 weeks removed from back surgery, so he didn't actually jump, but you get the idea.

Chara sits as Bruins lose again Michael Cammalleri and Mathieu Darche scored in the first 2 minutes, 20 seconds of the game and Carey Price stopped 34 shots Saturday night to lead Montreal to a 3-1 victory over the host Boston Bruins, who played without captain Zdeno Chara, out because of dehydration. Boston has never, in 26 tries, won a playoff series after losing the first two games.   Red Wings hold on, beat Coyotes Pavel Datsyuk scored and added two assists in the first period alone - including a marvelous move to set up a goal by Darren Helm - and the host Detroit Red Wings held on for a 4-3 win over the Phoenix Coyotes to take a two-games-to-none lead in their first-round series.