ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Andy McDonald is starting to take advantage of the new NHL rules, and being paired with Teemu Selanne helps.
McDonald scored two goals Sunday night, Selanne had a goal and two assists, and the Mighty Ducks extended their home winning streak to five games with a 3-2 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes.
"Andy's a dynamic small player who's very exciting to watch, and now he's getting a few things go his way," coach Randy Carlyle said. "He's getting an opportunity to play with Selanne, and those guys seem to have something going."
Geoff Sanderson and Mike Leclerc scored for Phoenix against Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who made 34 saves and won his third straight start after missing three games with a groin injury.
McDonald put Anaheim ahead 2-1 just 45 seconds before the second intermission, flipping a rebound over a sprawling David LeNeveu after Selanne worked the puck away from defenseman David Tanabe behind the net and was stopped at the edge of the crease.
"I think Andy has all the tools. He just needs the confidence to realize how good he is, because I don't think he knows yet how good he can be," Selanne said. "With his speed and talent, he's going to take advantage of these new rules."
Leclerc, who scored two goals against the Ducks in a 5-3 win on Oct. 23 at Anaheim, continued to make his former team regret trading him last August when he tied the score 42 seconds into the third period.
But the Ducks, who did not record a shot on net during their first two power plays, regained the lead for good the next time they had the man advantage. McDonald one-timed Selanne's pass from behind the net, beating LeNeveu to the glove side from close range at 3:01 of the period. It was McDonald's fifth goal this season, all in the last five games.
"I don't think I've been doing anything different," McDonald said. "I had some good chances earlier in the season and the puck just wasn't going in. Maybe that made me simplify the game a little bit, and I'm shooting a little bit more now than I was."
Selanne's high-sticking penalty gave Phoenix a power play with 2:18 remaining, but the Coyotes weren't able to get a shot on net -- not even after they pulled LeNeveu to get an extra attacker with a minute left on the penalty.
"It's disheartening," Phoenix coach and managing partner Wayne Gretzky said. "It's probably our fifth game with a one-goal differential where we got a power play in the last three minutes and didn't capitalize. I just think it's a combination of a lack of belief and a lack of effort.
"If the personnel who get the opportunity to have those chances to tie the game can't do it, then we'll get different personnel to play in those situations. We just can't continuously go with the same five or six forwards and not produce. So we'll address it and put different people in there."
The Ducks, who have surrendered at least one power-play goal in each of their first 12 games, were burned again at 8:58 of the first period when Sanderson opened the scoring with his third goal.
Selanne tied it at 4:54 of the second period with his ninth goal and seventh in seven games. His 461 career goals are the most by any player since the start of the 1992-93 season -- except for Jaromir Jagr, who has 489 during that period.
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| Jean-Sebastien Giguere wins his third straight start after missing three games with a groin injury. (AP) |
| Scoreboard | |||||
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
| Phoenix (5-8-1) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| Anaheim (6-5-1) « | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Three Stars | ||
| A. McDonald ANA Goals: 2 Assist(s): 0 | J. Giguere ANA Saves: 34 Save Pct.: .944 | S. Pahlsson ANA Goals: 0 Assist(s): 0 |
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| Scoring Summary | ||
| 1ST PERIOD | ||
| 08:58 | Power Play - Geoff Sanderson (3), Tip-In - Assists: Keith Ballard and Mike Comrie | |
| 2ND PERIOD | ||
| 04:54 | Teemu Selanne (9), Slap Shot - Assist: Todd Fedoruk | |
| 19:15 | Andy McDonald (4), Slap Shot - Assists: Teemu Selanne and Ruslan Salei | |
| 3RD PERIOD | ||
| 00:42 | Mike Leclerc (5), Slap Shot - Assists: Boyd Devereaux and Tyson Nash | |
| 03:01 | Power Play - Andy McDonald (5), Slap Shot - Assists: Teemu Selanne and Petr Sykora | |
| Penalty Summary | ||
| 1ST PERIOD | ||
| 00:39 | Sykora: High sticking - 2 min. | |
| 03:23 | O'Donnell: Tripping - 2 min. | |
| 07:47 | Brennan: Hooking - 2 min. | |
| 10:31 | Devereaux: Tripping - 2 min. | |
| 18:14 | Vishnevski: Hooking - 2 min. | |
| 2ND PERIOD | ||
| 01:46 | Marshall: Hooking - 2 min. | |
| 05:15 | Sykora: Hooking - 2 min. | |
| 3RD PERIOD | ||
| 01:43 | Ballard: Interference - 2 min. | |
| 12:56 | Comrie: Hooking - 2 min. | |
| 14:05 | Sykora: Interference - 2 min. | |
| 17:42 | Selanne: High sticking - 2 min. | |
| SHOTS ON GOAL | |||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | OT | T | |
| Phoenix | 16 | 9 | 11 | 36 | |
| Anaheim | 12 | 11 | 4 | 27 | |
| GAME INFORMATION |
| Attendance - 12956 |
| Game Time - 60:00 |
| Referees - Wes McCauley, Don Van Massenhoven |
| Line Judges - Lonnie Cameron, Don Henderson |
| Other Games | |||||
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