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Morrison lifts Ducks over Blues

Dec 11, 2008 - 7:30 AM ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- Recent success at home has given the Anaheim Ducks plenty of reason to believe they are, in fact, a team with which to be reckoned in the Western Conference.

Brendan Morrison snapped a tie with 2:37 remaining in the third period and Chris Kunitz scored two goals as the Ducks skated to a 4-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday.

Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 26 saves, George Parros netted his third goal of the season and Teemu Selanne notched two assists for the Ducks, who extended their winning streak at the Honda Center to four games.

"It's a sign of a good team," Giguere said. "We didn't panic, so I think that's a very big positive for us. We've wanted to be better at home, and I think we've made a bit of an improvement here. It's important to be good in your home building. In the last three years, our success has started at home every time."

The Ducks improved to 9-6-2 in their own building this season.

B.J. Crombeen scored for the fifth time in three games and Brad Boyes added a power-play tally for the Blues, whose two-game winning streak came to an end.

"We had some great chances, and we had the pressure on them for most of the third period," St. Louis coach Andy Murray said. "They're a very good team, and we had them on the ropes."

Morrison tapped a rebound into a vacant net in the midst of traffic to give Anaheim a 3-2 edge, and Kunitz scored an empty-netter with four seconds remaining to secure the victory.

Morrison's goal was just his third of the season.

"It's huge for him," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. "He's worked really hard, and he's been a good teammate. He's done all the things we've asked of him and is as frustrated as anybody on the way things started here. It's nice to see a player get rewarded."

Crombeen opened the scoring with 7:31 left in the first by firing a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle past Giguere after taking possession of Ducks defenseman Scott Niedermayer's turnover at the blue line.

"It was a 2-on-1, and I think that (Crombeen) wanted to go top shelf," Giguere said. "I missed it, and it went underneath my pads. ... (It was) not the best of goals, but for me, it's trying to think positively right now and trying to get my game back to where I want it to be."

Crombeen recorded a hat trick in the Blues' 6-3 win over the Nashville Predators on Monday.

St. Louis goaltender Manny Legace suffered an undisclosed injury moments before surrendering the game-tying goal by Parros 56 seconds later. Legace stopped Bobby Ryan's initial shot from the right circle but appeared to injure his leg while scrambling to gain possession of the rebound, which Parros collected in front of the net and buried.

Ducks center Ryan Carter then skated across the crease while celebrating the tally and inadvertently collided with Legace's head.

"He is a little woozy right now," Murray said. "He got kneed in the head by Carter. Whether it's an accident or on purpose, you can't make contact with the goaltender, that's the rule. The referee didn't see it that way, so we have to believe in his interpretation. The bottom line is, they must not have seen it or they would've called it."

Legace was helped off the ice in obvious pain and replaced by Chris Mason, who turned aside 22 shots.

"It's always weird, but I guess that's part of the job," Mason said. "I used to play behind Tomas Vokoun (with the Predators) when I first got into the league, and that was my role - to be ready. He played most of the games, but if he was having a tough night or they just wanted to give him a break, they'd throw me in there like that. So I've had some experience doing that, but it's definitely not easy. Once you get in, you still have your job to do."

Kunitz capitalized for the first time while standing on the right side of the net, converting a cross-crease pass from Ryan Getzlaf during a power play with 6:13 left in the second to give the Ducks a 2-1 edge.

Boyes drew the Blues even with the man advantage with 7:07 to go in the third, unleashing a slap shot that beat Giguere. The 26-year-old Boyes has scored in five of his last seven contests.