Carlyle Lauds Team’s Offensive Involvement

Coach Randy Carlyle, who in the past has called his team “offensively challenged,” said Monday he was glad to see more people scoring, beyond two or three players.

“We’re using everybody,” he said.

He singled out linemates Rob Niedermayer and Samuel Pahlsson, who have always been known as “hard workers.” Now, he said, “it’s good to see [them] providing some offense.”

Niedermayer was the catalyst in Sunday’s 5-2 win over Phoenix, collecting two assists -- including one on a Pahlsson goal.

When Carlyle inserted recently acquired Jeff Friesen on that line in the third period Sunday, it paid dividends with a Friesen score off a pass from Niedermayer.

Sunday’s game marked the first time this season that the Ducks have rallied for a win after being behind going into the third period.

*

The club’s climb into the eighth playoff slot in the Western Conference is a testament to how far the Ducks have come after a poor early-season stretch.

Since Jan. 13, when they were in 10th place in the conference and eight points out of the last playoff spot, the team has a record of 12-4-5. They are 6-1-1 in their last eight games and 23-9-8 since Thanksgiving, second to Detroit in conference winning percentage.

*

Defenseman Scott Niedermayer, who set a single-season team record Sunday with his 41st assist, needs five more points to tie the club record for points by a defenseman. Both marks were set by Fredrik Olausson, who had 56 points (40 assists) in 1998-99.

*

Teemu Selanne, the team’s leading scorer with 61 points, has a five-game point streak of two goals and five assists. Second-leading scorer Andy McDonald has 18 points in his last 14 games and a club-record 12-game road point streak (18 points).

*

Four additional Duck road games will be televised by KDOC-TV during the final full week of the regular season in April, the team announced. The games are at Vancouver (10th), Calgary (11th), Edmonton (13th) and San Jose (15th). KDOC is an independent station owned and operated by Golden Orange Broadcasting.

The bulk of the team’s televised games this season are on FSN West and FSN West 2 (60 games); four other games are on Channel 9.