Advantage Goes to Ducks in Win

All good things inevitably come to an end, but try telling that to the Mighty Ducks.

Anaheim continued its late-season roll by completing its domination of the Phoenix Coyotes with a 5-2 victory at Glendale Arena on Saturday night that pushed its winning streak to a season-high six games.

The win came courtesy of a power play that is at full boil. The Ducks converted on three opportunities for the third consecutive game, setting a team record.

The last team to score three power-play goals in three consecutive games was the New York Islanders in 1992. Before their splurge, the Ducks had gone one-for-13 with the man advantage over the previous three games.

“Power plays and specialty teams are things that go in streaks,” Duck Coach Randy Carlyle said. “We were fortunate tonight. Things went our way on it. You have to credit our players who work hard at it.

“It’s been maligned at times because of the non-production, but we’re getting production from it now and we’ll take it.”

Teemu Selanne scored two goals for the second consecutive game; Scott Niedermayer and Francois Beauchemin had power-play goals. Corey Perry also scored as the Ducks set another club mark by scoring five goals in three straight games.

“It’s a perfect time to be hot,” Selanne said. “Everybody knows that it’s tough to face a hot team in the playoffs. This team is getting better.

“I don’t think we played that well tonight, but it’s great getting the win. We’re trying to stay hot and hope no injuries are coming, because we need everybody in this room right now.”

It was a victory that came in handy. The Ducks (37-21-12) remained in fifth place in the Western Conference, one point ahead of Colorado as they head to face the Avalanche in Denver on Tuesday.

But their recent surge has allowed the Ducks only to inch away from a pack of teams fighting for spots five through eight. Niedermayer said that is helping his team keep its edge as it faces a daunting schedule in the final three weeks of the regular season.

“It’s still a dogfight,” the Duck captain said. “There’s still a lot of hockey left and a lot of teams looking for spots. Nothing’s been accomplished at all. We’ve just got ourselves into it.”

The Ducks also got another solid performance from Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who has rarely started games on consecutive nights this season. Giguere gave up an early first-period goal to Mike Comrie, mostly because of a defensive lapse, but he settled down to make 32 saves.

With the win, the Ducks gained 15 out of a possible 16 points against the Coyotes this season and outscored them 32-16. Their 7-0-1 record was marred only by a 2-1 overtime loss on Nov. 12.

“It seems like we score a lot of goals against them,” Giguere said. “That’s great. But now it’s over with. We need to move on because there’s a lot of big games coming up.”

Comrie put the Coyotes ahead 1:09 into the game on a defensive breakdown. The Ducks responded with power-play goals from Niedermayer and Selanne to take a 2-1 first-period lead.

Oleg Kvasha tied the score in the second, but that was the last threat for the Coyotes. Perry broke the tie for good when he snapped a wrist shot past Phoenix goaltender David LeNeveu.

Beauchemin gave the Ducks their third power-play goal in four chances when he ripped a slap shot past LeNeveu. Over the last three games, the Ducks have nine power-play goals in 15 opportunities.

“I really believe that there’s a lot of pride” in it, Selanne said. “Guys who are lucky enough to play on the power play, I really believe it’s a bonus for them to be out there. They take pride in it and want to make it work.”