DUCKS PICK UP THIRD IN A ROW DUCKS 3, CHICAGO 1.

Byline: Frank Welch Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - It's still early to tell where the Mighty Ducks are eventually headed without fan favorites Teemu Selanne and Guy Hebert. But the two players who have the dubious task of filling their skates have looked right at home. ... So far.

Rookie goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere, making his 12th consecutive start, was again solid between the pipes and newly-acquired left wing Jeff Friesen picked up his third and fourth assists in his first two games as a Duck as Anaheim beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 3-1, on Friday night at The Pond.

Giguere, whose impressive play of late made the 34-year-old Hebert expendable, stopped 34 shots and his teammates seemed to feed off his outstanding first period, one where he turned away 14 shots, 11 of those coming on solid scoring chances.

An announced crowd of 13,492 also watched Friesen, who came to the team from San Jose in the deal that sent Selanne north Monday, again click impressively on the first line with red-hot Paul Kariya and center Tony Hrkac.

Anaheim (21-35-8) has won three games in a row, tying a season-high reached only one other time this season.

Chicago (28-31-6) saw its slim playoff hopes dashed even further with the loss. The Blackhawks are 10th in the Western Conference, 12 points behind Phoenix and Edmonton, the teams that are seventh and eighth in the conference race.

Anaheim broke a 1-1 game in the third period when offensive-minded defenseman Oleg Tverdovksy slapped home his 12th goal with 13:40 left. Center German Titov left a pass behind for the trailing Tverdovsky, who fired a low shot that beat Chicago goalie Jocelyn Thibault low on the glove side.

Kariya's short-handed empty-net goal with 1:06 left in the game sealed the victory.

The Ducks led 1-0 with 16:36 left in the second period when Kariya wristed home a power-play goal.

Kariya, with six goals in his last three games (two each) and 13 goals and 23 points in his last 15 games, found space for himself at the right goal post just six seconds into Anaheim's only power-play chance in the first two periods.