Duck Win Is Special Delivery

Maybe facing a team as bad as them on the power play and in penalty killing was what the Mighty Ducks needed to snap out of their special-teams funk.

The Ducks took advantage of the Calgary Flames’ problems as they killed all but one of their penalties, and got power-play goals from Joffrey Lupul, Keith Carney and Teemu Selanne in a 4-1 victory Wednesday night at the Arrowhead Pond.

Goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere stopped 25 shots after sitting out three games because of a groin injury. Andy McDonald also scored for the third consecutive game for the injury-plagued Ducks.

The victory was a bit tempered as defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh joined centers Sergei Fedorov and Ryan Getzlaf off the ice because of a fractured rib suffered in Sunday’s game against Phoenix.

“It was more of a complete game by our hockey club,” Duck Coach Randy Carlyle said. “It was a character-builder for us.”

The Ducks got their power play going on their first chance when Selanne slid a nice pass to Lupul, who one-timed it past Flame goalie Miikka Kiprusoff for his fifth goal.

Selanne scored with five seconds left for his team-leading sixth goal to cap the scoring. The Ducks (4-5-0-1) went three for six with the man advantage against the Flames, who rank 28th in penalty killing.

“We needed that,” Selanne said. “Special teams has been our problem so far. Tonight, we got results through hard work.”

McDonald made it 2-0 when he banked in a shot from the right side off Kiprusoff’s skate. Before his streak, McDonald had gone 50 games without a goal.

Penalty killing has been the worst part of the Ducks’ sluggish start to the early season, but it seemed as if they turned a corner against the Kings. After giving up at least two power-play goals in six consecutive games, they gave up only one in eight chances Tuesday.

Against Calgary (4-6-1-0), they killed their first five penalties and six of seven overall, including a two-man disadvantage in the first period. Jarome Iginla broke through for the Flames by ripping a wrist shot past Giguere at 5:04 of the third period.

“We’re trying to play better every day,” Duck defenseman Vitaly Vishnevski said. “We killed the three on five and after that, we pushed hard and played offensively in keeping the puck in their zone.”

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Earlier, Carlyle was fined an undisclosed amount by the NHL for his comments made about the officiating Friday in Detroit after the Ducks’ 3-2 loss to the Red Wings. After that game, Carlyle said. “Other teams are enjoying more power plays than we are and I don’t understand how they can call the number of power plays against us for simple infractions tonight. It’s beyond my belief that we’re as bad as taking [eight] penalties. I guess the Detroit Red Wings get those calls in their building.” ... Center Sergei Fedorov expressed optimism about his injured groin after working with a physical therapist for the last few days. “I’ve got to stay the course of the therapy and keep doing my workouts and strengthening exercises,” he said.