Selanne leads Ducks past Penguins 2-1

[February 16, 2012]  PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Teemu Selanne beat goalie Marc-Andre Fleury midway through the third period, and the Anaheim Ducks snapped the Pittsburgh Penguins' six-game, home-winning streak with a 2-1 victory on Wednesday night.

Corey Perry added his 28th goal, and Jonas Hiller made 25 saves for Anaheim, which won in Pittsburgh for the first time in 11 years by slowing down Penguins star Evgeni Malkin.

The NHL's leading scorer was held pointless for the second time this month, and his eight-game goal streak at home ended, too. Jordan Staal scored for Pittsburgh, but the Penguins' high-flying offense was bottled up over the last two periods.

Selanne's 19th goal of the season was the 656th of his career, moving him into a tie with Brendan Shanahan for 12th place on the NHL list.

The Ducks are 14-3-3 since New Year's Day, and much of their success has been fueled by Perry and the 41-year-old Selanne. Anaheim has thrived under the wide-open system that new coach Bruce Boudreau used successfully while in charge of the Washington Capitals.

Though Anaheim hadn't won in Pittsburgh for more than a decade, Boudreau has made a habit of it. Washington dominated the regular-season series with the Penguins during Boudreau's tenure, and he again made himself at home in the Steel City.

Having Selanne playing at a remarkably high level in the twilight of his career has helped.

Selanne gave the Ducks the lead after he took a long pass from Matt Beleskey and backhanded a shot past Fleury 7:51 into the third. Hiller made the goal stand up, though he had help from a defense that held Pittsburgh to 26 shots, eight below its average.

For the first 40 minutes or so, however, it looked as though one goal would be enough for the Penguins to extend their winning streak.

The Penguins have made a habit of falling behind during their recent home tear, and they trailed 2-0 in each of their previous two games before roaring back.

This time they were on the other end of the rally.

Staal, playing in his third game after missing six weeks with a left knee injury, gave Pittsburgh an early lead when a turnover led to a 2-on-1 break with Matt Cooke. Staal faked a pass to Cooke and then fired a shot over Hiller's stick side for his 17th goal of the season and second since his return last weekend.

Pittsburgh had several chances to push the lead to 2-0, the best coming from Malkin early in the second when he hit the left post and the crossbar with a wrister from about 15 feet. It was one of the rare times in recent weeks when the Russian failed to deliver when given a prime scoring chance.

Fleury kept the lead intact until late in the second, robbing Cam Fowler with his glove and then stuffing Niklas Hagman on a short-handed breakaway. Anaheim finally broke through with less than a minute to play in the period when Perry deked Zbynek Michalek and then fired a low wrist shot past Fleury from in close for his fifth goal in three games.

It set the stage for Selanne, whose goal lifted Anaheim (24-24-9) -- the 13-place team in the Western Conference -- within six points of the postseason cutoff.

NOTES: The Ducks will continue their road trip on Friday at New Jersey. Pittsburgh plays at Philadelphia on Saturday ... Anaheim D Nate Guenin, recalled from Syracuse of the AHL on Monday, was scratched. The Ducks also held out forward Devante Smith-Pelly. ... Pittsburgh was without D Ben Lovejoy and C Tyler Kennedy. ... Pittsburgh forward Arron Asham (concussion) practiced on Wednesday and could return this weekend. Asham hasn't played since Jan. 15.

[Associated Press; By WILL GRAVES]

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