Teemu Selanne added to his resume, and the Ducks posted their second straight victory at Honda Center, 4-3 over the Phoenix Coyotes.
Selanne scored the 211th power-play goal of his career, four behind Joe Nieuwendyk for 10th in league history, at 2:49 of the first period. Scott Niedermayer — who collected two assists — got his first helper by tapping the puck to Selanne, who walked in and wristed the puck past ex-Duck Ilya Bryzgalov.
“We’re heading in the right direction right now,” Niedermayer said.
The Ducks picked up the pace in the second, and opened up a 3-0 lead on a pair of long breakout passes by Niedermayer and defensman James Wisniewski.
Niedermayer hooked up with Bobby Ryan on a 100-plus-foot outlet pass, and Ryan blasted home a one-timer from the right circle at 12:44. Ryan, who started the season with just one goal in his first nine games, has scored five goals in his last six.
Wisniewski found Ryan Getzlaf with a 100-plus-foot outlet pass, and Getzlaf caught Phoenix on an ill-advised line change by tapping the puck to Perry in the slot. Perry potted his team-leading 11th goal of the season at the 17:07 mark.
Mike Brown made it 4-0 with his second goal of the season, taking advantage of an offensive-zone faceoff win by Todd Marchant at 3:31 of the third period.
Phoenix ruined Jonas Hiller’s shutout bid with two goals in a 38-second span, by Keith Yandle and Scott Upshall midway through the final period. The Coyotes brought the score to within 4-3 on a rebound poke-in by Shane Doan with 5:24 left.
The Ducks were outshot 16-5 by the Coyotes in the final frame.
“In the middle of the third period, we went out and gave them life,” head coach Randy Carlyle said. “It was almost like we stood around and watched them skate. That is what happens in these games. The momentum swings back and forth. You have to give them credit. They did not go away. You can’t critique a win. We won the hockey game. We’ll take the two points and move on.”
The Ducks will play four games in six days on the road, beginning Wednesday in New Jersey. Goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who is on injured reserve with a strained groin, is expected to rejoin the team. That’s the good news for the Ducks.
The bad news is that, at 6-7-2 and already 12 points back of the division-leading San Jose Sharks, this could be seen as a make-or-break road trip.
“It’s perfect with us getting two wins in a row at home, where we were struggling,” Wisniewski said. “It was surprising because we were at home for such a long time. Now, we go on a tough road trip with four games in six days. It might be a good thing for us. We’ll see what we can do.”
Some notable streaks were kept alive Saturday:
– Getzlaf extended his assist streak to seven games, one game short of his career high. His assist streak is the longest current streak in the NHL. He also extended his season-high point streak to eight games, which along with Corey Perry and Dallas’ Brad Richards, is the second-longest current point streak in the league to Ottawa’s Daniel Alfredsson.
– With his goal, Perry extended his point streak to a career-high eight games; he has 12 points during that span.
– Hiller had his shutout sequence snapped at a career-high 117:14 spanning three games dating back to Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Penguins. In his last two contests, Hiller has stopped 67-of-70 shots for a 1.50 goals-against average and .957 save percentage.
