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Selanne nets hat trick as Ducks double up Blackhawks

Feb 25, 2008 - 6:22 AM ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- Teemu Selanne recorded his 20th career hat trick as the Anaheim Ducks continued their domination of the Chicago Blackhawks by skating to a 6-3 victory on Sunday.

Selanne scored a pair of power-play goals in the first period, passing Maurice "Rocket" Richard to move into 25th place with 546 career tallies. The "Finnish Flash" also tallied his sixth goal of the season with 4:32 remaining in the third period to complete the hat trick.

He also added two assists to give him 600 in his career as Anaheim improved to 15-1-3 in its last 19 against the Blackhawks at the Honda Center.

Selanne, who won the Maurice Richard Trophy as the NHL's top goal scorer for the 1998-99 season, said it was an honor to pass the legend.

"I knew that he had 544," Selanne said. "That's pretty much the only guy who I really know how many goals he has. He's so special. I knew that I was going to have a chance to do it, it's a big honor."

Selanne said he's feeling more comfortable on the ice after missing most of the season as he contemplated retirement.

"There's a little price to pay when you take so much time off," Selanne said. "This is a good confidence boost. The past two or three games, I had some really good chances. It was good to see those pucks go in. I got some great passes, so that makes the job way easier. The last week or so, I've been feeling great. My legs and body are back. It's fun to skate. Every stride is enjoyable."

Ryan Getzlaf, defenseman Kent Huskins and Chris Kunitz also tallied for the Ducks and backup goaltender Jonas Hiller made 29 saves to defeat the Blackhawks for the second time this season.

"I don't think we played as well as we are able to play, but we played good enough to win the game," Selanne said. "That's what makes this team very, very strong."

Patrick Sharp scored twice and rookie Jonathan Toews had three assists for Chicago, which fell to 1-10-2 in its last 13 games against the Ducks.

Selanne opened the scoring at 7:45 of the first period, beating Patrick Lalime to give Anaheim a 1-0 lead.

Getzlaf scored 53 seconds later to chase Lalime from the contest. Getzlaf took a drop pass from Corey Perry, skated into the left circle and put the puck between Lalime's pads for his 21st goal of the season.

Selanne gave the Ducks a three-goal bulge, scoring from a sharp angle at 17:13 against rookie Corey Crawford, who was making his season debut.

A first-period lead has been rare for Anaheim, which had to come from behind in its previous five wins.

"We want to have a good start, especially at home," Selanne said. "If you can't do it, you still have to stay with the plan and believe those goals are coming. It was good to see that we got the power play going."

Selanne said coach Randy Carlyle told the team if it won Sunday, it could have the next two days off before its next game on Friday.

"We knew if we would lose this, knowing Randy Carlyle, it would be a miserable week," Selanne said.

Kunitz said Selanne has given the team a lift.

"He's a goal-scorer and we were lacking goals," Kunitz said. "Now it solidifies the two lines. Teemu has been playing great for us. The speed and space that he creates for himself is what makes him so good. He jumps by guys and he's always there. He's a big spark for our team."

Carlyle agreed.

"He scored some goal-scorer goals," Carlyle said. "He's had lots of chances. Tonight, it was fortunate enough for him and us that he found the back of the net. We'll take them. I thought on the offensive side, he was pretty dynamic."

Lalime returned to the net to start the second period, but didn't fare much better, as Huskins scored his fourth goal of the season just 2:27 into the session.

"We made mistakes on them," Chicago coach Denis Savard said of Anaheim's first two goals. "The first one, probably not. The second one, (Lalime) will probably tell you it wasn't a good goal. I was just trying to stop the bleeding there (with the goaltender change).

"I thought they were kind of coming after us and I was just trying to settle things down and get back to playing the way we can. We didn't have a bad first period. We didn't have a bad game. Mistakes, that's all. We're young and you've got to learn.

Sharp scored at 18:11 of the first period as he one-timed a pass from Jason Williams past the glove of Hiller. He added his 31st goal of the season - and fourth in two weekend games in Southern California - with 6:08 remaining in the second period.

On the second tally, Sharp was following through on his shot when he connected with Ducks captain Chris Pronger, who suffered a jaw contusion.

Pronger immediately fell to the ice before scrambling to his feet and retreating to the locker room.

The former Hart and Norris Trophy winner did not return to the game.

Carlyle said Pronger has a gash across his bottom lip and lost some teeth, but he doesn't expect that he will miss any games.

"(It) was just a quick play off the draw," Sharp said. "We we're trying to get it back to Williams for a shot and it was just sitting there for me, so I shot it in.

"I think I clipped Pronger there and I hope he's OK. I knew I hit him afterward, because I saw him go down. I was just trying to shoot the puck as hard as I can and unfortunately I clipped him."

Chicago cut the lead to 4-3 with 15:20 left, but Selanne answered eight seconds later and Kunitz added a goal 44 seconds after that.

"It's a little scary sometimes when you know you have a good team and you start thinking the game is over," Selanne said. "When they (made it) 4-3, we had to keep pushing and finish the job. We finished strong, but we know we can do better than that."

"That was tough to take," Sharp said. "It was a tough 15 minutes of the third period. We felt good about getting that third goal. It was couple mistakes there right off the draw and it ends up in our net. With players like Selanne out there, that's going to happen. I thought we battled hard today and we hung in there until the end."