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 The 37-year-old Finnish forward put off retirement and rejoined the Ducks on Tuesday night, playing his first game since he and Anaheim won the Stanley Cup last spring. He helped set up Scott Niedermayer's power-play goal in the second period, and the Ducks went on to a 3-0 victory over the sinking New York Islanders.
Selanne paid instant dividends for the Ducks, who had lost six straight (0-5-1) and hadn't scored in their previous two games, when Niedermayer beat Rick DiPietro 2:36 into the second.
Selanne started the play by getting the puck to Chris Pronger at the right point. The Ducks All-Star defenseman faked a shot and slid a pass to Niedermayer
-- also an All-Star defenseman -- in the right circle.
Niedermayer, who made a delayed return of his own in December after thinking about retirement, wound up and put a shot between DiPietro's pads. That gave the Ducks their first goal since the second period of a 5-1 loss at Minnesota on Wednesday, snapping a scoreless streak of 177 minutes, 56 seconds.
Todd Marchant made it 2-0 at 2:51 of the third period and Doug Weight scored about five minutes later for the Ducks, who entered with an NHL-worst 2.36 goals per game. Anaheim hadn't had as many as two goals in five games, and reached three for the first time since their previous win, 4-2 at Minnesota on Jan. 18.
Jean-Sebastien Giguere stopped 25 shots to win for the first time since a 33-save effort at Nashville on Jan. 17. He was never really tested by the Islanders, who mustered only 15 shots through two periods.
It was Giguere's third shutout of the season and second straight as he earned one in Anaheim's 1-0 shootout loss at St. Louis on Friday.
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He held off the Islanders, who came in averaging only 2.38 goals and lost their fifth straight
-- all in regulation -- and for the seventh time in eight games (1-6-1). DiPietro made 23 saves.
Selanne came back after sitting out Anaheim's first 56 games. The Ducks could certainly use his offense now that they are five games into a nine-game trip.
Anaheim couldn't take advantage of three power-play chances in the first period, but cashed in less than a minute into Bill Guerin's high-sticking penalty when Niedermayer scored.
Marchant doubled the lead with a hard back-hander from the right circle that got between DiPietro and the right post. Weight scored his first in 10 games to make it 3-0 at 7:34.
That led to sporadic chants of "Refund! Refund!" from the sparse crowd at Nassau Coliseum.
Notes: Giguere has 29 NHL shutouts in 11 seasons. ... Marchant snapped an eight-game streak without a goal and scored just his second in 30 games. ... Selanne's first game with the Ducks was Feb. 10, 1996, against the Islanders at Nassau Coliseum. ... The Islanders benched defensemen Marc-Andre Bergeron and Bryan Berard and dressed young forwards Jeff Tambellini and Frans Nielsen. ... Islanders C Mike Sillinger sat out and is expected to miss three weeks due to a hip injury. ... DiPietro, the Islanders' lone All-Star, dropped to 19-20-6.
[Associated Press; By IRA PODELL]
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