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Ducks keep Maple Leafs reeling

Oct 22, 2008 - 3:39 AM TORONTO (Ticker) -- Ron Wilson is pulling out all the stops in an attempt to get the Toronto Maple Leafs a victory. Nothing seems to be working.

Teemu Selanne scored the decisive goal in the shootout as the Anaheim Ducks posted their first road victory of the season Tuesday, a 3-2 triumph over the Maple Leafs.

Selanne and Corey Perry both scored in the bonus format against goaltender Curtis Joseph, who was inserted specifically for the shootout after watching the entire game from the bench.

Defenseman Francois Beauchemin and enforcer George Parros tallied in regulation for Anaheim, which had lost its previous three visits to Toronto.

"Tonight, we won, and I'm not going to critique a win," said Ducks coach Randy Carlyle, whose team was outshot, 13-0, in the third period. "We know we can play better than what we played. We're going to have to play a lot better than that to get a lot more points, but we'll take the win and go home."

Nik Antropov netted both goals for the Maple Leafs, who fell to 0-2-3 since defeating the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings on Opening Night.

"We battled back to get a point," Antropov said. "We wanted to get the extra point, and unfortunately, we didn't."

Toronto fell behind early as Anaheim built a 2-0 lead midway through the first period.

Entering with goals in each of his previous two games, Beauchemin extended his streak to three with a slap shot from the blue line that sneaked just inside the right goalpost at 4:36 of the opening session.

Parros, who began the season with four career tallies, netted his second of the campaign at 9:50. The 6-5, 231-pound tough guy received a pass at center ice and skated in alone on Vesa Toskala before beating the netminder to the glove side with a wrist shot.

The goal matched Parros' career-high total of two set in 2005-06 while with Los Angeles.

Antropov halved the deficit at 8:15 of the second. After Alexei Ponikarovsky tipped defenseman Pavel Kubina's slap shot from the blue line wide, Antropov grabbed the carom off the end boards and backhanded it into the net for his second tally of the campaign.

With Toronto pressing for the equalizer late, Antropov buried a rebound in front with 53 seconds remaining in the third after blue-liner Mike Van Ryn's slapper from above the slot was stopped by goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

"We knew they were going to throw everything at the net, and they did exactly that," Giguere said. "They played a pretty good game, but we're supposed to be a veteran team here, and when it comes down to a one-goal lead going into the third, you need to show a little bit more composure, a little bit more poise. I know it's going to come after we win a few more games and get confidence. We've got to start somewhere, and it's got to be now."

Perry had a chance to end it in overtime, but his shot from the left faceoff circle during a 2-on-1 rush rang off the goalpost.

Hoping to change his team's fortunes, Wilson replaced Toskala - who made 19 saves - with Joseph for the shootout. The move did not work, however, as Selanne beat the veteran low to the stick side in the first round and Perry followed with a wrister to the glove side to seal the win for Anaheim.

Joseph had posted a 5-3 lifetime record in shootouts, stopping 24 of the 32 shots he had faced prior to Tuesday.

"I talked to Cujo and I told him about it before the game, that I was thinking about doing it," Wilson said of putting Joseph in for the shootout. "Cujo had one of the better (shootout records). ... (I told him on the bench), if this goes the way I think it's going to go, be ready, start warming up. Unfortunately, it didn't work."

"I understood," Toskala said of his coach's decision. "As a team, we just have to find a way to get those points because they are going to be huge at the end of the season. Today, we tried this and it didn't work."

Giguere turned aside 36 shots but did not have to make a save in the bonus format, as attempts by rookie Nikolai Kulemin and defenseman Tomas Kaberle both went wide.

"It seems like the luck is not on our side," Antropov said. "We've got to work at it."

"We fell short in (the shootout), but for the most part, we're happy that we showed a lot of resilience coming back to bring that game to a shootout," Toronto's Matt Stajan said.