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Ducks continue to roll, sink Blues

Nov 6, 2008 - 7:31 AM By Craig Shultz PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- Behind Ryan Getzlaf and Teemu Selanne, the Anaheim Ducks continue to soar.

Getzlaf scored two goals and set up another and Selanne netted a milestone tally as the Ducks on Wednesday skated to a 5-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues.

Selanne's goal was the 561st of his career, moving him past Hall of Famer Guy Lafleur for 20th place on the all-time list. Getzlaf and Selanne extended their points streaks to eight games.

Corey Perry had a goal and an assist, Rob Niedermayer also scored and Chris Kunitz notched a pair of assists for Anaheim, which improved to 8-0-1 in its last nine games.

"The team is playing well and everybody is contributing in different areas," Getzlaf said. "Our penalty-killing and power play is playing well. We're getting great goaltending. It's a matter of things are clicking right now, and we just have to continue playing the way we are."

"We have to be happy with our work ethic, first and foremost," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. "We played in a game (Tuesday) night in (Los Angeles) and (the Blues) were here waiting for us. We did some things that we have to do to be successful. We did those more consistently tonight than we did last night, and that was our goal."

The streak coincides with the improved play of the line of Getzlaf, Perry and Kunitz, which started slowly as the Ducks dropped their first four games of the season.

"We have that awareness on the ice," Getzlaf said. "I think at the start of the year, we had the mind set that we needed to do a lot more than we did in previous years. I think it got us away from playing together. We talked about it and realized that we are not good enough to play on our own. We got back together and got back in sync. It enabled us to move the puck to each other."

Jonas Hiller made 30 saves for the Ducks, who have scored 33 goals in their last eight contests and a league-leading 49 overall.

Rookie Patrick Berglund and former Duck Andy McDonald tallied for the Blues, who have lost three in a row and five of six.

"We did a lot of good things tonight," McDonald said. "They played last night, and there were times when I think we could have been a little tougher on them. They have a good defense over there. We made it too easy for them. That's probably a characteristic of a young team. We've got to keep at it, keep improving and realize what we're up against each night."

With the game tied at 2-2 in the second period, Perry put Anaheim ahead for good at 5:53, when he walked out from behind the net and stuffed the puck past goaltender Chris Mason near the left goalpost for his fourth goal of the season.

"You fight to come back and score a nice power-play goal to tie it up 2-2, you don't want to give one right back, which we did," Blues coach Andy Murray said.

Getzlaf doubled the lead with 4:37 left in the session, converting a cross-slot pass by Perry for his fifth tally. The 23-year-old sealed the win with an empty-netter with 65 seconds to go in the third.

Getzlaf's second goal gave him 18 points, tying him with Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin for the league lead.

"You have to put most of it on his shoulders," Kunitz said of his linemate. "He sat out in Toronto because of his teeth, he came back, he got a goal that first game in Ottawa and ever since then, it's just elevated everybody's game. The power play started clicking after that, Teemu started scoring a bunch of goals, Corey started getting a bunch of points. I think Getzy is probably the cornerstone of how it all started to go."

The Ducks, who were beginning a season-high six-game homestand, needed just 36 seconds to get on the scoreboard as Niedermayer received a pass from Samuel Pahlsson at St. Louis' blue line and beat Mason to the glove side on a breakaway.

"Robbie Niedermayer made a great play busting in behind the guy, and Sammy made a great pass to him," Kunitz said. "It was definitely a great way to start. ... It was nice to see us get an early goal and build from there."

"We seem to be coming out kind of flat and getting down early," McDonald said. "We've been able to come back in a few games, but this league is too tough to do that."

Berglund forged a 1-1 tie at 3:20, intercepting a clearing pass by defenseman Bret Hedican in the right faceoff circle and taking a clear path to the net before sliding a backhander between Hiller's pads.

Selanne reclaimed the lead for Anaheim with his league-leading eighth power-play goal - all in the last seven games. From the left circle, the "Finnish Flash" one-timed a shot under the crossbar off a backhanded feed from the slot by captain Scott Niedermayer at 2:07 of the middle period.

"We got a power-play goal," Carlyle said. "Specialty teams are huge."

The advantage lasted just 57 seconds, however, as McDonald beat Hiller low to the stick side with a wrist shot from the high slot for a power-play tally. I

"St. Louis is a good hockey club," Carlyle said. "There is no quit in that team, that's for sure."

The goal was McDonald's first against his former team since being traded on December 17.

"To me, it wasn't any different from any other night," he said. "We are just concentrating on getting two points. We're in a little bit of a slide as of late, and that was the focus."

Mason stopped 22 shots for the Blues, who opened a five-game road trip.

St. Louis lost the services of former Anaheim star Paul Kariya, who left in the second period with a lower body injury. In its previous game, rookie T.J. Oshie suffered a high ankle sprain and is sidelined indefinitely.

"I think we have seven guys out," Murray said. "There is nothing we can do about it. We've just got to move on and move someone else into the lineup."