Selanne can’t enjoy hat trick

Teemu Selanne’s first hat trick in nearly six years normally would have been a moment of celebration under any other circumstances.

Instead, the Ducks forward made good on a promise to a close friend.

Playing with a heavy heart, Selanne turned his emotion into a powerful tool Thursday night as his three goals led the injury-plagued Ducks to a much-needed 5-1 victory over the Dallas Stars at the American Airlines Center.

Earlier in the day, Selanne had a conversation with his friend from their native Finland, who told him that the cancer in his lungs had spread to his brain.

“My good friend back home, who looks after all my cars, he got diagnosed with lung cancer a little over a year ago,” said Selanne, who politely declined to identify him. “I don’t think he has much time to live. So I promised if I scored a hat trick, I’d keep the puck.

“I told him I haven’t had one in five years. The odds were not very good.”

Selanne did get the puck after he scored his third goal at the 8:08 mark of the third period with a nifty backhand chip past Dallas goaltender Marty Turco.

It is the 19th hat trick of his career and first since March 29, 2001, when he did it for San Jose against the Ducks in a game in which another good friend, Paul Kariya, also scored three goals.

“When I was younger, when I got two, I knew I’d get three,” said Selanne, who has 520 career goals. “I wanted the third one more than those first two. When you get older, you don’t get so greedy anymore.”

The outburst was needed as the Ducks (30-9-7) won for just the second time in seven games. They took advantage of a Dallas team that was missing injured regulars Mike Modano, Brenden Morrow, Darryl Sydor and Matthew Barnaby.

“Teemu continues to deliver,” Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle said. “That’s what goal scorers do and he’s one of those guys that doesn’t need an awful lot of chances to score goals.”

At 36, Selanne has shown no sign of slowing down. He has nine goals in his last seven games and is tied with Washington’s Alexander Ovechkin and Tampa Bay’s Martin St. Louis for the NHL lead with 28.

“I guess we just come to expect it,” said Andy McDonald, who had a career-high four assists. “He seems to elevate his game when we need it. We’ve been in a little bit of a slide for the last little while and we needed a big win tonight.”

The Ducks took advantage of a five-minute, second-period power play when Dallas defenseman Philippe Boucher rammed Bjorn Melin’s face into the glass. Melin lost two teeth, but Boucher got a game misconduct.

The Ducks would score three times in a 2:10 span. Selanne got a pass from Chris Kunitz deked and slipped the puck between Turco’s pads. Scott Niedermayer scored 58 seconds later and Joe DiPenta finished the blitz.

It was a victory the Ducks will savor but one that Selanne couldn’t truly enjoy.

“Obviously, it was a really sad day today, but what are you going to do?” Selanne said. “Life is not fair sometimes.”

*

eric.stephens@latimes.com