Duck Supporting Cast Shines

There was a mob of players congratulating the Mighty Ducks’ goaltender ... Martin Gerber.

There were key goals that turned the game into a rout ... Joffrey Lupul and Kurt Sauer.

There was a highlights-at-11 play ... Samuel Pahlsson.

All donations were greatly appreciated by the Mighty Ducks in a 4-0 victory over the Dallas Stars on Sunday in front of 15,831 at the Arrowhead Pond.

Sergei Fedorov and Vaclav Prospal had goals. Steve Rucchin and Petr Sykora had assists. Jean-Sebastien Giguere had a good view. The Ducks, though, got big moments from supporting cast members.

Gerber, Lupul, Sauer and Pahlsson may not be marquee names, but what they did Sunday cleansed Duck palates of a 0-3-1 trip.

“Everybody knew they had to come up with a good game because of the way things were going,” said Gerber, who made 32 saves for his second career shutout. “We can’t go on like that. Everybody knew they had to play their best game tonight.”

This was a meeting of two Fortunate 500 members, five teams playing around .500 that are fortunate to be grouped in the same division. Such is the Pacific Division these days.

Someone is going to win this division. Someone is going to finish last, which the Stars wrenched away from the Ducks.

“We were talking about it a couple weeks ago, how fortunate it is in this division,” Rucchin said. “But we’re going to have to make a decision pretty soon, whether we want to be at the bottom or the top of this pack.”

The Stars, now at the bottom after winning only four of their last 16 games, held a 20-minute closed door meeting Sunday. The Ducks, on the other hand, leapfrogged from last to third in the division, three pointsbehind the first-place Kings.

“One two-point game doesn’t do anything,” Sauer said. “But you get a little stretch, get on roll, that’s what we need. Hopefully this is the start of that.”

The Ducks turned to Gerber to get them started in that direction. He replaced Giguere, who has labored much of the season, and came up with a game that the Ducks needed.

Gerber turned away every Star scoring chance, which included a sprawling third-period save where he reached from one post to the other to deny Pierre Turgeon on a wrap-around try.

“We had a couple costly turnovers that led to good opportunities, but we got the goaltending,” Coach Mike Babcock said. “Then you kind of relax a little more.”

After he hemmed and hawed for a moment, Babcock said that Gerber would probably start against San Jose on Wednesday.

Whoever the Ducks put in net would benefit greatly from an offensive showing like Sunday’s. In less than three minutes, they turned a competitive, chippy game into a run-away, chippy game.

The Ducks, scoreless on 17 consecutive power plays, had special teams that were actually special.

Given a five-on-three advantage in the second period, the Ducks made short work, scoring goals 22 seconds apart.

Prospal chipped in a rebound off the boards for a 1-0 lead. Lupul then converted a slick pass from Stanislav Chistov.

The Ducks had a short-handed goal by Fedorov in the third period, which gave them a 4-0 lead.

“The specialty teams were good,” Babcock said, “and they didn’t go on the road trip.”

Sauer’s goal turned the game into a rout, but it was Pahlsson who did the work. Pahlsson went back and forth behind the net, dragging Dallas’ Rob DiMaio with him. He then centered to Sauer, who banged home a one-timer.

“He had the puck for like 20 seconds behind the net,” Sauer said. “It takes that long for me to get into the slot. I think that’s what he was waiting for.”

*

Defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh and forward Rob Niedermayer were scratched because of injuries.

Niedermayer, who has not skated since suffering a groin injury Nov. 30, said he hoped to return to practice today.

Ozolinsh, who injured his rib cage against Atlanta on Friday, said he would play Wednesday.