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Ducks stay hot in 5-2 win over Bruins

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Maybe the Boston Bruins thought they had Jonas Hiller out of position and vulnerable Tuesday night.

Actually, he had them right where he wanted them.

Hiller, en route to his 12th consecutive win in the Ducks’ 5-2 victory over the Atlantic Division-leading Bruins at Honda Center, opted to add the extra flair of a glove flip in snaring a first-period blast by Bruins forward Brad Marchand.

BOX SCORE: Ducks 5, Bruins 2

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Marchand was stunned he didn’t score.

“Those saves, you don’t make every night,” Hiller said of his extra theatrics. “It got the crowd into it, the whole team … We knew we could play a lot better. That’s what we did.”

The Ducks (32-8-5) proceeded to their 14th win in 15 games and extended their unbeaten-in-regulation start at Honda Center to 18-0-2.

How they did it speaks of how well things are going, as the team that ranked 26th in the league in power-play success going into the weekend scored three power-play goals, including two in the second period by Mathieu Perreault and Corey Perry.

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“We talked about keeping it more simple,” said Perreault, who added a second goal in even strength late in the third period to ice the loss for Boston (28-13-2). “It was nothing pretty, just guys going to the net, getting shots. It worked for us.”

In the third period, center Ryan Getzlaf dished a crisp delivery from the boards to Nick Bonino to answer after the Bruins closed to within 3-2.

“When you speak to it every day … the whole power play is just about getting shots and chances,” Getzlaf said. “The last couple games, we’ve had tons of them. It’s a matter of us working hard every night.”

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That’s something Hiller has set the tone with, as he stopped 30 of 32 shots and kept Boston scoreless in the first period despite outshooting the Ducks, 16-3, in the scoreless 20 minutes.

“We found a way not to get scored on, to get back into the game,” Hiller said. “Sometimes, it’s easier when you give up a lot of shots, you get right into the game. I didn’t want to give up that first goal.

“Nobody was happy with the first period. We lost too many battles, but we calmed things down. … It’s been an unbelievable stretch.”

No NHL goalie has won 12 straight since Martin Brodeur did it for the New Jersey Devils in 1997.

“He kept us in the game,” Ducks Coach Bruce Boudreau said. “It’s incredible goaltending when you think of the consistency ... a real testament to him.”

The coach was also thrilled with the perseverance of the power-play units after a recent one-for-34 rut that ended when Perry scored the game-winning goal late in overtime Sunday against Vancouver.

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The Ducks opened the scoring Tuesday by converting the advantage after Boston defenseman Dougie Hamilton committed a holding penalty 4:41 into the second period.

Perreault scored on Boston goalie Tuukka Rask off a sharp pass to the front of the goal by Teemu Selanne, who earlier Tuesday was named to his record-tying sixth Olympic team by Finland.

Seven Ducks total were named to Olympic squads, including Getzlaf and Perry to Team Canada, Selanne and Sami Vatanen to Finland and forward Jakob Silfverberg to Sweden on Tuesday.

Center Saku Koivu declined his invitation to Finland, his primary reason being his interest in being fully healthy for an extended Ducks playoff run toward the Stanley Cup.

After beating the Bruins and owning a 79-38 goals lead over visitors, Perreault said the stance is validated.

“We can play with anyone,” he said.

lance.pugmire@latimes.com

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