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Goals still elusive for Selanne

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Times Staff Writer

Teemu Selanne isn’t yet feeling as if he is on the outside looking in. But he’s getting antsy.

The Ducks are back from a successful trip with the best record in the Western Conference. They still have yet to lose a game in regulation and, against the New York Rangers tonight, can become the first team since the 1994-95 Pittsburgh Penguins to gain points in their first 13 games.

And they are doing this even though Selanne has only one goal. No reason to panic, he said.

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“I just have to keep doing the right things and keep working hard,” Selanne said. “Of course, it’s frustrating. But like I’ve said before, the best thing is the team’s winning games.”

Since scoring a power-play goal in the second game of the season against Phoenix, Selanne hasn’t found the net in the last 10. The normally light-scoring Travis Moen already has three.

Coach Randy Carlyle hasn’t said much to the right wing, who has been stuck on 493 career goals but has seven assists.

“He’s got [eight] points,” Carlyle said. “Our top point-getter has 11. It’s not like he’s not making a contribution. It’s just that he hasn’t scored as many as what people were projecting.

“Watch him skate. He’s moving. All I’ve asked of him is to simplify. I don’t think any more can be said.”

Making things simple can be easier said than done. Ask any baseball player caught in the throes of a batting slump.

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“It’s natural to start squeezing your stick and start forcing some things,” Selanne said.

The Ducks, thanks to a balanced attack, have not been held back by Selanne’s scoring struggles. Chris Kunitz has a team-leading five goals, and Scott Niedermayer, Ryan Getzlaf, Dustin Penner and Andy McDonald each have four.

Only Niedermayer, with his team-leading 11 points, ranks among the top 50 in scoring. But only three teams have seven players with at least seven points -- the Ducks, Buffalo Sabres and Toronto Maple Leafs.

“I think it’s part of a change in our team,” Carlyle said. “Maybe there was a lot more emphasis put on one line last year to lead our offense and now our requirement is to spread that out.”

It’s the team’s success that has kept Selanne a happy camper.

“I’ve always dreamed about having a great team here and we have that right now,” he said.

*

Jean-Sebastien Giguere is no fan of the shootout and his struggles in that area are no secret. But he’s wondering if he is becoming a magnet for them.

In the two years of the format, Giguere has appeared in all 15 the Ducks have been in, including five this season.

By contrast, backup Ilya Bryzgalov has yet to participate in one despite making 34 post-lockout starts.

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“I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve that,” Giguere joked. “Jeez. I mean, Bryz hasn’t been in one.”

TONIGHT

vs. N.Y. Rangers, 7, Ch. 56

Site -- Honda Center.

Radio -- 830.

Records -- Ducks 9-0-3, Rangers 5-6-0.

Record vs. Rangers (2003-04) -- 1-0-0.

Update -- Defenseman Ian Moran and winger Stanislav Chistov accepted a conditioning assignment to the Ducks’ minor-league affiliate in Portland, Maine. Both are expected to be in the Pirates’ lineup tonight at Hartford.

eric.stephens@latimes.com

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