Ducks Show Babcock

It seemed like the perfect setup for Mike Babcock as he returned to the Arrowhead Pond. The Detroit Red Wings -- whom he now coaches -- are sailing along in first place in the Central Division and his old Mighty Ducks were stumbling in with nine losses in 10 games.

The Ducks instead turned in a performance that their former leader could be proud of, getting some gritty play and stellar goaltending Friday in a 3-1 victory, reminiscent of their stirring run to the Stanley Cup finals with him behind their bench.

Teemu Selanne kept up his scoring streak by punching in the game-winning goal at 9:26 of the third period. Jonathan Hedstrom finished the Red Wings off with an empty-net goal with Detroit having pulled Chris Osgood for a two-man advantage.

“It was exactly the game that we wanted to play,” Selanne said. “Obviously, they have a lot of talent and scoring power, so we have to play smart. Actually, we have been playing for a long time like that, but we haven’t been able to score more goals than the opponent.”

The third-period goals denied Babcock a triumphant return after turning down a one-year extension to return to the Ducks. Before the teams first met Oct. 21, Babcock said it would be more emotional when he returned to Anaheim.

“The only time I felt that was when I looked up during the national anthem and there was the [Western Conference champion] banner,” said Babcock, who signed a three-year deal to coach Detroit. “I wish it said Stanley Cup champions.”

The struggling Ducks entered the game in a last-place tie with San Jose in the Pacific Division, but they forged a 1-1 tie after two periods.

Selanne changed that with his fourth goal in five games and team-leading 13th by scoring off a rebound after Ruslan Salei and Andy McDonald put shots on Osgood, who relieved an injured Manny Legace -- he suffered a sprained left knee -- at the start of the second. The Ducks improved their record to 7-14 in games decided by one or two goals.

“We’ve been close and we’ve talked about it,” Duck Coach Randy Carlyle said. “We’ve talked about these situations where we haven’t found a way to win one. Tonight, we got lucky. The bounces went our way and we scored a power-play goal.”

Rookie forward Dustin Penner provided a lift in the first period in what was only his second NHL game. Penner, recalled from minor league Portland, Maine, on Wednesday, put a shot on Legace and McDonald swept in to fire home the rebound.Duck goalie Ilya Bryzgalov gave up only Henrik Zetterberg’s second-period goal in 29 shots for his second victory in three games. The rookie made a brilliant diving glove save to rob Brendan Shanahan midway through the first.

“To me that’s a game-saver,” Carlyle said. “It turned the tide and allowed us to recoup because you could feel it on the bench. Everybody was basically going, ‘Oh, no, it’s in the net’ and then he pulls the thing out of the air.”