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Hiller helps Ducks beat Oilers in shootout

Dec 20, 2008 - 7:45 AM EDMONTON, Alberta (Ticker) -- Jonas Hiller made a career-high 51 saves before denying all three shooters in the shootout as the Anaheim Ducks pulled out a 3-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Friday.

Corey Perry scored the lone goal of the bonus format and also scored on a power play in regulation for the Ducks, who squandered a two-goal lead in the opener of a five-game road trip.

Rob Niedermayer had a shorthanded goal for Anaheim, which won for the fourth time in six games thanks to Hiller.

"He gave us a chance to win and, obviously, he was the best player on the ice and that's what you need sometimes when you go out on the road," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said of the netminder.

Kyle Brodziak and Erik Cole each netted a goal in the third period and Dwayne Roloson stopped 34 shots for the Oilers, who suffered their third straight loss.

"It's a start I guess," Edmonton coach Craig MacTavish said of the comeback. "It sure ended up a lot better than it looked like it was going to. It looked like it was a train wreck in the process and then we battled hard through it."

Perry got the Ducks off to a great start in the shootout, starting out wide before breaking in on the goal and deking Roloson on the short side.

That was all Hiller would need. He turned aside Marc Pouliot, Ales Hemsky and Sam Gagner in the bonus format to secure the win.

"I was happy to be right in the game," Hiller said. "Sometimes, it's better to have a lot of shots then just a couple so it was easy to find my game and easy to be in the game, and it felt good. I am happy that I could help the team for that win."

The Ducks took a 2-0 edge into the final session, but Edmonton halved the deficit when Zachery Stortini redirected defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky's shot to Brodziak, who fired a quick shot into the open net at 6:32.

After Hiller made a series of spectacular saves on a 5-on-3 disadvantage, Anaheim took a foolish delay of game penalty and Cole converted on the ensuing power play to tie the game with 6:03 remaining in the contest.

"It's good that we were able to come back and get a point but at the same time, we let another one slip away," Cole said. "Maybe if we had been a bit sharper on the execution of our power play, then we wouldn't have been in that situation. We had several opportunities to take control of the game and we didn't."

Ducks right wing Teemu Selanne, who was playing in his 1,100th career game, left the contest early in the first period with a laceration on his left thigh.

"I guess he got a pretty good cut," Anaheim captain Scott Niedermayer said. "I don't know the exact details but you just hope for the best. Obviously, he is an important player for us."

Selanne will return to Anaheim on Saturday to be evaluated.