Selanne Shreds Dallas Defense

You didn’t need to be inside the visitor’s dressing room Friday to hear the postgame whooping and hollering. You could hear the Mighty giddy Ducks bellowing from around the corner and down the hallway at Reunion Arena.

For once in a very long time, the Ducks could laugh, cheer and feel good about themselves after a game at Dallas. Hey, it had been at least a week since the Ducks could say they played a good game anywhere.

Contributions to the Ducks’ 4-2 victory over the Dallas Stars certainly came from all around the dressing room. Some were expected, some were definitely not.

Right wing Teemu Selanne ended a five-game drought without a goal by scoring three, a natural hat trick that propelled the Ducks from a 2-1 deficit to their first victory at Dallas since Dec. 17, 1993.

Enforcer Stu Grimson got the Ducks going with a slick back-hander to a streaking Tony Hrkac for a goal midway through the second period.

Goalie Guy Hebert gave up two Dallas goals on three shots in the first 7:12, then put up a wall the Stars could not penetrate. Hebert stopped the next 16 shots, ending the Ducks’ 0-12-1 skid at Reunion Arena.

Defenseman Ruslan Salei played with poise in his first game at Dallas since injuring Star center Mike Modano with a shove from behind Oct. 2. Salei served a 10-game suspension for his actions.

“We worked, we got rewarded,” Coach Craig Hartsburg said. “The ‘Dirty Ducks’ winning in this building, imagine that.”

It was difficult, indeed.

After all, the Ducks were mired in a slump that has spanned most of this month. They went into Friday’s game with a two-game losing streak and were 2-5 in their last seven.

The Ducks’ lackluster play prompted a team meeting Thanksgiving Day in their hotel.

“There were a lot of positive things to say,” Selanne said. “Only good things. We reminded each other about what our jobs are. Everybody did his job really well tonight.”

After falling behind, 2-0, the Ducks began to win the small battles--prying away loose pucks, beating the Stars up and down the ice and crashing the net.

Grimson’s set-up for Hrkac’s first goal as a Duck was the turning point. It cut the Dallas lead to 2-1 at 11:35 of the second period.

“Huge,” Selanne said. “Their effort was great.”

Added Hebert: “That goal really energized the guys on the bench. It was pure hard work.”

The Ducks began to swarm the net while looking for the tying goal. Finally, Selanne’s speed and a bit of luck enabled the Ducks to complete the rally.

Modano’s pass to Derian Hatcher at the right point went awry, bouncing into the neutral zone. Selanne outraced Hatcher to the puck, swept in on net and . . . fanned.

It turned out to be a fortunate swing and a miss. Selanne wound up again and beat Dallas goalie Ed Belfour, who was hopelessly out of position, for a 2-2 tie at 16:51.

Selanne struck again at 9:27 of the final period, capitalizing on sustained pressure in front of Belfour. Paul Kariya and Steve Rucchin did most of the work, but Selanne tapped home a rebound for a 3-2 Duck lead.

Selanne completed the 16th three-goal game of his career with a flip from center ice into an empty net in the game’s final minute.

“I’m not sure that’s the record, five games,” Selanne said of scoring for the first time since Nov. 7 against the Edmonton Oilers. “The most important thing was that the team played well. We showed up and played with lots of energy. We won the battles. We were more hungry than those guys [Dallas].”

The game certainly didn’t start that way, however.

You would never have guessed the Stars have been struggling, winning once in their last six games. Dallas seized control in the opening minutes.

Brett Hull sent a missile past Hebert 3:15 into the first period. Jon Sim then tapped a fat rebound into the net at the 7:12 mark.

Three shots, two goals, big trouble for the Ducks.

It didn’t turn out that way, however.