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Ducks snap skid in win over Habs

Dec 1, 2011 - 7:12 AM Anaheim, CA (Sports Network) - Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry each had a goal and two assists, as the Anaheim Ducks snapped a seven-game skid with a 4-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens.

Devante Smith-Pelly and Niklas Hagman also lit the lamp for the Ducks, who avoided their first eight-game losing streak since a club record-tying eight- game slide from November 3-20, 2005.

Jonas Hiller made 19 saves for Anaheim, which went 2-8-3 in the month of November.

"We did a lot of things to a higher level than we have in the past few games we have played," Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle said. "Our power play and penalty kill was the difference in the hockey game. Our goaltender made some big stops for us in some critical situations. That is what it takes to win."

Following the game, the Ducks fired Carlyle and assistant coaches Dave Farrish and Mike Foligno. Former Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau was named the team's new head coach.

Andrei Kostitsyn scored the lone goal for the Canadiens, who fell to 1-3-1 over their last five games. Montreal went 0-for-7 on the power play Wednesday and are 0-for-23 on the man advantage during the aforementioned stretch.

Peter Budaj turned aside 23-of-26 shots.

Montreal drew first blood at the 3:10 mark of the first period. Brian Gionta stole the puck at the blue line before passing to Tomas Plekanec. His nice cross-ice pass resulted in Kostitsyn's goal.

The Ducks made it a 1-1 game with 19 seconds left in the first. After a Montreal turnover, Perry picked up a loose puck at the right circle and fed a cross-ice pass to Getzlaf, who went top shelf.

Smith-Pelly gave Anaheim a 2-1 edge at the 6:06 mark of the middle stanza. While on the power play, Bobby Ryan slid a pass in front from behind the net. Smith-Pelly gathered the disc and fired a wrister past Budaj.

Perry's power-play goal at the 2:55 mark of the third made it 3-1. Francois Beauchemin's shot from the left point was deflected in by Perry.

Hagman's empty-net goal with 1:29 remaining accounted for the final margin.

"It seemed like the whole third period was special teams, either on the power play or killing penalties," Gionta said. "It's tough to get some momentum back but that's why you need your power play to create something and unfortunately in the third period we didn't create any shots or sustained pressure."

Game Notes

Anaheim has won five of the last six meetings...Montreal's Max Pacioretty served the first of a three-game suspension...Habs center Scott Gomez (groin) missed the game...The Ducks snapped a five-game home losing streak.