Final

Series (Game 8 of 8)

Anaheim leads 7-1

Game 1: Sunday, October 23rd
Coyotes3Final
Ducks5
Game 2: Sunday, October 30th
Coyotes2Final
Ducks3
Game 3: Saturday, November 12th
Ducks1Final
OT
Coyotes2
Game 4: Tuesday, November 22nd
Ducks2Final
Coyotes1
Game 5: Wednesday, November 30th
Coyotes1Final
Ducks6
Game 6: Saturday, March 11th
Ducks5Final
Coyotes3
Game 7: Sunday, March 12th
Coyotes2Final
Ducks5
Game 8: Saturday, March 25th
Ducks5Final
Coyotes2

Ducks 5

(37-21-12, 86 pts)

Coyotes 2

(33-34-4, 70 pts)

9:00 PM ET, March 25, 2006

Jobing.com Arena, Glendale, Arizona

1 2 3 T
ANA 2 2 15
PHX 1 1 02

T. Selanne (Ducks - RW): Goals: 2, Assists: 1

M. Johnson (Coyotes - RW): Goals: 0, Assists: 1

C. Perry (Ducks - RW): Goals: 1, Assists: 0

Selanne leads Ducks to ninth win in ten games

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) -- The Anaheim Mighty Ducks are peaking at just the right time.

Teemu Selanne scored twice and added an assist to lead the streaking Anaheim Mighty Ducks past the Phoenix Coyotes 5-2 Saturday night for their sixth straight win.

"It's the perfect time to be hot," Selanne said. "Everybody knows it's tough to face a hot team in the playoffs, and right now we're hot."

Scott Niedermayer, Corey Perry and Francois Beauchemin also scored for the Ducks, who beat Phoenix for the seventh time in eight games to remain in fifth place in the Western Conference.

"We've got a long way to go," Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said. "There still are a lot of points available."

The Ducks, 9-1 in their last 10 and 10-2-1 since the Olympic break, were in ninth place when they played in Phoenix two weeks earlier.

"We've been playing very well, but we expected ourselves to play very well all year," said Jean-Sebastian Giguere, who made 32 saves in his second start in two nights. "We should have been doing this all year."

Mike Comrie and Oleg Kvasha scored for the Coyotes, who had a three-game winning streak snapped.

"We let ourselves down in a couple of areas but we competed," Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky said. "It's tough to lose. You hate to lose, but I know we're going forward here and have the team going in the right direction."

Perry broke a 2-2 tie at 4:19 of the second period, sliding a hard shot from the left circle under David LeNeveu's glove. Selanne made it 4-2 just 54 seconds later, taking a pass from Vitaly Vishnevski at the right side of the crease and redirecting the puck into the net.

"That's why he's one of the best players in the world," LeNeveu said.

Beauchemin capped the scoring with Anaheim's third power-play goal in as many chances, a blast from the top of the right circle with 6:29 remaining.

The Mighty Ducks are 9-for-14 on the power play in their last three games.

"I really believe it's pride," Selanne said. "For the guys who are lucky enough to play on the power play, it has to be a bonus for everyone out there. Even one PP goal every day is going to be huge."

Comrie gave Phoenix a 1-0 lead 69 seconds in when he took a pass from Mike Johnson, skated untouched between the circles and beat Giguere with a short wrist shot.

Niedermayer tied it at 12:29 of the period with a power-play goal from the left circle. Selanne gave Anaheim its first lead, 3-2, on a slap shot from the left circle for a power-play goal with 24.7 seconds left in the second.

Kvasha tied it 2-2 with the help of video replay. Kvasha's sharp shot from the left corner of the crease hit the crossbar and bounced off the back of Giguere's glove before entering the net. The goal originally was waved off, but was credited after a short review.

"We tried to get the pucks in and we tried to get their defense to turn but it was a little late," Comrie said.

Game notes


Anaheim went 7-0-1 against Phoenix this season. ... Coyotes LW Josh Gratton logged his second fight in two games with Phoenix, squaring off with Todd Fedoruk midway through the second period. ... Selanne has seven goals and 18 assists in his last 18 road games. ... LeNeveu, recalled from San Antonio of the AHL on Wednesday, made his second straight start.

Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press

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