Ducks win eighth of 11 to pull within striking distance of playoffs

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Game Information

Arena: Nationwide Arena Location: Columbus, Ohio

Referees: MichaelMcGeough, BradMeier Linesmen: AndyMcElman, LyleSeitz

Attendance: 16,519 (91.1% full)

Team Stat Comparison
251	Goals	215
222	Goals Against	276
87	Power Play Goals	64
84	Power Play Goals Allowed	95
9	Shorthanded Goals	10
13	Shorthanded Goals Allowed	8
1459	Penalty Minutes	1414
18	Average Penalty Minutes	17

Scoring Summary
1ST PERIOD			ANA	CLS
5:51		Francois Beauchemin Assists: Jeff Friesen, Teemu Selanne	1	0
13:11		Nikolai Zherdev (Power Play) Assists: Rick Nash, David Vyborny	1	1
13:54		Dan Fritsche Assists: Radoslav Suchy, Jan Hrdina	1	2
2ND PERIOD			ANA	CLS
1:46		Rick Nash Assists: Nikolai Zherdev	1	3
4:09		Travis Moen Assists: Samuel Pahlsson, Scott Niedermayer	2	3
5:33		Corey Perry Assists: Scott Niedermayer, Todd Fedoruk	3	3
3RD PERIOD			ANA	CLS
11:10		Joffrey Lupul (Power Play) Assists: Teemu Selanne, Francois Beauchemin	4	3

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- After seeing Francois Beauchemin play against them, the Columbus Blue Jackets might want him back.

Joffrey Lupul scored to snap a third-period tie, and the Anaheim Mighty Ducks rallied from a two-goal deficit to beat the Blue Jackets 4-3 on Sunday.

Lupul stepped up late, but Beauchemin caused Columbus trouble all night.

Beauchemin, acquired midseason from Columbus for Sergei Fedorov, scored the first goal, had an assist, got in a few scuffles and cleared away a potential tying goal late for Anaheim.

The Mighty Ducks have won eight of 11 to get within striking distance of eighth-place Vancouver in the Western Conference playoff race.

"That's what happens sometimes when you battle hard, compete and you want to win," Beauchemin said. "You've got to do whatever it takes."

Travis Moen and Corey Perry also scored for the Ducks, and Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne had two assists each.

Nikolai Zherdev, Dan Fritsche and Rick Nash had goals for the Blue Jackets, losers of four straight and 10 of 14.

"I am real disappointed," Columbus coach Gerard Gallant said. "We played about 40 minutes. The Ducks were hungrier."

Columbus pressed for the equalizer during a late, two-man advantage but the Ducks held on. Jean-Sebastien Giguere robbed Nash from close range with 2 seconds left.

"The last 20 seconds there were a lot of shots, a lot of rebounds," Beauchemin said. "Jiggy made the key saves there to get the win."

With the game tied 3-3 in the third, Selanne slid a backhand pass from the goal line to Lupul. The Columbus defense collapsed low and Lupul, unchecked, fired the puck into an open net at 11:10 for the power-play score -- his 24th goal of the season.

"I was chasing the defenseman in, actually, for the puck beside the net and his stick got caught in the net and broke his stick," Lupul said. "I'm sure Teemu must have known his stick was broken. He just threw it to me, and the defenseman kind of couldn't do too much there with no stick."

After Nash converted his 21st on another counterattack with Zherdev to make it 3-1 early in the second period, Anaheim responded quickly to tie it.

"Our players deserve the credit," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. "They took the responsibility. We got down 3-1, we battled back. We found a way."

Following a mad scramble near the Blue Jackets crease, Moen shot the puck from the left corner and hit goalie Marc Denis, who was backpedaling. The puck trickled inside the near post at 4:09.

Just 1:24 later, a shot nicked the stick of defenseman Radoslav Suchy in the slot and found an open Perry, who snapped a shot past Denis at 5:33 to tie it 3-3.

"We stuck with it," Lupul said. "We got a couple timely goals there in the second."

With the game still tied, Carlyle replaced Ilya Bryzgalov with Giguere at 11:24 of the second period.

"You hope that your goaltender, that no matter who's in there, is going to provide you with a level of goaltending that you have a chance to win," he said. "I didn't think we were getting that early in the game, so I made the change."

A weak point shot through traffic by Beauchemin sneaked past Denis to give the Ducks a 1-0 lead at 5:51 of the opening period.

Zherdev tallied his 25th on the power play to tie it at 13:11. Streaking down the left wing, Nash flipped a pass to Zherdev, who redirected the puck past Bryzgalov.

Just 43 seconds later, Fritsche deflected Suchy's long shot after a faceoff win by Jan Hrdina to give Columbus a 2-1 lead.

Game notes
Fedorov missed his second consecutive game with a strained back. ... Beauchemin, who had only two points when traded, has 29. He entered tied for fourth in scoring among rookie defensemen. ... Columbus is 7-3 against the Ducks at home. ... Anaheim had held opponents to two goals or fewer in nine of 11 games. ... Linesman Lyle Seitz injured a leg with 4:13 remaining and didn't return.