Selanne doubles up in win

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The Ducks are peaking for the playoffs, defenseman Sean O’Donnell was saying before Saturday’s game with the Coyotes, and the key to succeeding in the postseason is taking adversity in stride.

“There isn’t a situation that we’ll come across that we haven’t faced before,” he said.

Well, maybe one.

Saturday night the Ducks took the ice without Jean-Sebastien Giguere, the NHL’s second-stingiest goaltender, and Ryan Getzlaf, their leading scorer. And they responded with a brilliant performance by Jonas Hiller in goal and two goals from Teemu Selanne to beat the Phoenix Coyotes, 2-1, moving within a point of clinching a playoff berth.

“It’s about team,” Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle said. “We feel that we have a work ethic and [if] we stay with our structure and we stay with our system, we can have success even when you don’t have all your personnel.

“You have to win when people are out. And that’s a huge positive for our group tonight.”

Giguere experienced back spasms while getting dressed before Friday’s loss in San Jose while Getzlaf sustained an upper-body injury in the same game, joining suspended defenseman Chris Pronger and injured winger Corey Perry on the sidelines. Carlyle is hopeful Giguere and Getzlaf could play as early as Wednesday, when the Ducks play host to the Kings.

In the meantime, however, he’ll rely on what’s left.

“These are challenges that your team has to meet,” he said. “If you’re going to have success in the playoffs you have to have people step to the forefront. And there were some people that did that tonight.”

None more than Hiller, who took the ice with stitches in his forehead, a reminder of the shot he took to his mask Friday. But he turned away 30 shots, many with tough saves -- the toughest, perhaps, coming when he stopped Shane Doan twice in the second period, then again when he robbed Radim Vrbata seconds before the horn sounded to end the period.

“A couple of stops I thought were highlight reel,” Carlyle said. “He’s a goaltender. He’s paid to stop the puck.”

Phoenix goalie Ilya Bryzgalov, meanwhile, barely broke a sweat with the Ducks testing him only 15 times. One of those came at the end of a first-period breakaway that started when Todd Bertuzzi stole the puck from Zbynek Michalek at center ice, then fed Selanne, who skated in alone, deked Bryzgalov out of position and then lifted the puck into the net.

Selanne got what proved to be the game-winner on a power play at 10:40 of the third period, taking a pass from Doug Weight in the face-off circle to Bryzgalov’s right and blasting a slap shot through the goalie’s pads.

Bertuzzi also picked up an assist on that goal.

“Obviously injuries are going to hurt every team with this kind of caliber players out,” Selanne said. “We just have to keep grinding and grinding. We know that it’s going to be a bonus when those guys can come back.

“But we don’t have time to wait for those guys.”

The Coyotes’ only score also came on a power play, 3:26 into the third period, when Martin Hanzal stripped the Ducks’ Scott Niedermayer behind the Ducks’ goal and fed the puck to Vrbata. Vrbata then passed to Ed Jovanovski near the blue line and Jovanovski found the back of the net with a blistering slap shot that tied the score, 1-1.

Vrbata had a chance to tie it again with about seven minutes to play, but after being deked out of position Hiller got just enough glove on a Vrbata backhand to steer the puck clear of an open net.

While a playoff berth really hasn’t been in doubt for the defending Stanley Cup champions, who have lost only three of their last 15, home-ice advantage for the first round is very much up for grabs. But Saturday’s win improved the Ducks’ position, giving them a five-point lead over Dallas for the No. 4 seeding in the Western Conference playoffs

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kevin.baxter@latimes.com