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Selanne's goal lifts Ducks over Predators

Mar 5, 2007 - 6:58 AM ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- Teemu Selanne came through again for the Anaheim Ducks.

Selanne scored a goal in the second period and notched the decisive tally in the shootout to lift the Ducks to a 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators.

Rookie Dustin Penner also had a goal for the Ducks, who are 4-0-1 in their last five games. Nashville had its four-game win streak snapped.

"It is hard when you have all kinds of chances and you can't get the bounces you want," Selanne said. "But we talked about just sticking with it. It's going to come. Even if it doesn't, and we're doing the right things, it's one of those unlucky nights. But that wasn't the case today. We found a way to win the game."

Nashville, 3-0-1 on its five-game road trip, played without injured forwards David Legwand, Peter Forsberg, Steve Sullivan and Jason Arnott.

"It almost feels like a win, knowing we had an all-star team sitting out right now," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "We'll take the point. We played a little bit shorthanded, had guys playing their first game. From that standpoint, it was a good character game for us."

The first-place Ducks, who outshot the Predators, 35-14, took an eight-point lead over the Dallas Stars in the Pacific Division.

The Predators are tied with the Buffalo Sabres for the overall league lead with 93 points.

Selanne scored the winner in the second round of the shootout when he skated in and snapped the puck over goaltender Tomas Vokoun's glove. The right wing is 4-for-8 in the bonus format this season.

"He (Selanne) is a great player, and a smart player," Vokoun said. "It's hard to know what to expect from him. He slowed down and made his move. I stayed with him. It's not easy for him to put it in, but he did it."

Anaheim netminder Jean-Sebastien Giguere preserved the win when he denied Nashville's Martin Erat in the third round.

"It was a tough game," Giguere said. "I wasn't really thrilled with my first period. It was tough but you have to give credit to the guys. They didn't hang their heads after a tough first period. We came out jumping again, and I thought we played really well and deserved to win."

Selanne's 39th tally sliced Nashville's lead to 2-1 at 1:04 of the second period. He took a pass from Andy McDonald in the slot and snapped the puck past Vokoun.

The three-time 50-goal scorer is tied with Tampa Bay's Martin St. Louis for third among NHL goal scorers.

Penner scored his fifth goal in his last four games at 3:26 of the third period when he deflected defenseman Chris Pronger's shot from the left point past Vokoun.

"I tried to lose the draw, I tried to lose it cleanly, which I managed to do," Penner said. "And then Ryan (Getzlaf) and Corey (Perry) worked their (behinds) off to get the puck back and got it to the point to Chris, and I got just got my stick in there and tipped it short side."

Giguere made 12 saves and improved 18-2-0 with 48 goals allowed in 25 home starts.

"They (Nashville) are the top in the league, and we wanted to see where we were at at this point against a team like that," Giguere said. "Obviously, they were missing a lot of players but it doesn't matter. We responded well to the adversity, we never quit, we always kept working. Good things happen to teams that do that."