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Selanne's late goal rallies Ducks

Feb 28, 2009 - 11:59 PM DALLAS (Ticker) -- The Anaheim Ducks became the latest team to take advantage of the Dallas Stars' recent struggles at home.

Teemu Selanne netted his 20th goal of the season with 9:39 remaining in the third period as Ducks rallied for a 4-3 victory over the Stars on Saturday.

The all-time leading goal scorer in Anaheim history, Selanne reached the 20-goal plateau for the 14th time in his 16 NHL seasons, helping the Ducks rebound from Thursday's 6-0 drubbing in Boston.

"That was not very pretty," Selanne said. "It was good to bounce back. But sometimes it's easier to put a bad game like that behind you - pretend you didn't even play - than losing in the last minute or in overtime."

Selanne's goal came after the Stars were unable to clear the puck out of the defensive zone.

Andrew Ebbett stole the puck from Stars rookie James Neal just inside the blue line and passed to Selanne, who was left alone in front.

"It's just a lousy turnover," Neal said. "It's tough plays like that one that we can't have."

"That's toe-dragging at the blue line and a poor decision on (Neal's) part," Dallas coach Dave Tippett added. "That's a young player making a bad mistake."

Selanne snapped a one-timer past goaltender Marty Turco, who allowed four goals on just 18 shots, to give the Ducks a 4-3 lead.

"It's been a long road trip," Selanne said. "It's always great to come back in the third period on the road."

Anaheim squandered a 2-0 lead after the first period, but rallied from a 3-2 deficit in the third to improve to a 3-2 on a six-game road trip that concludes in Chicago on Tuesday.

The Stars dropped to 0-4 on their current five-game road trip. In the last three games, Dallas has surrendered the winning goal in the third period.

The four straight losses have dropped Dallas out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference, while Anaheim has climbed into seventh in the West with 67 points - two more than the Stars.

"It's getting extremely disappointing around here," Stars center Steve Ott said. "Our slogan today was find a way to win and we didn't do that."

With the teams scrambling for playoff position, things turned chippy after the final buzzer. Ott mixed it up with Anaheim's Travis Moen and was assessed a 10-minute misconduct for attempt to injury.

All-Star goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere also got involved, picking up a minor for roughing Ott.

"Ott's a disturber out there," Giguere said. "Emotions were high. We'll match up against anybody in that department."

Mike Ribeiro scored twice for the Stars, matching his total from the previous 15 games combined.

Ribeiro executed a perfect 2-on-1 with Steve Ott to give the Stars a 3-2 lead 4:22 into the third.

With defenseman Niedermayer the lone player back for Anaheim, Ribeiro skated over the blue line and passed to Ott in the left circle. Ribeiro then took a return feed from Ott for a tap--in goal.

The goal held up for less than five minutes, however, as Corey Perry tied it at 8:50.

"Selanne's) a goal scorer," Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said. "Perry also had a big goal. All the guys made contributions. I don't think there was a guy on the team who didn't play his heart out."

Niedermayer and fellow defenseman Chris Pronger scored in the first period for Anaheim before Ribeiro and Matt Niskanen answered in the second for Dallas.

Giguere stopped 30 shots, including 15 in the final 20 minutes, for his 200th career victory.