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Friday, Oct. 27 10:30pm ET
Oilers still struggle at the Pond | |||||
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BOX SCORE
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- There are only so many times a team can give the Anaheim Mighty Ducks a power play without getting burned by Paul Kariya. Kariya capitalized with the man advantage less than 4{ minutes after setting up Teemu Selanne's go-ahead goal with 13:35 to play, and the Ducks beat the Edmonton Oilers 3-2 Friday night to end a three-game home losing streak. Edmonton defenseman Eric Brewer was sitting out a roughing penalty when Kariya parked himself at the right of the crease and redirected Niclas Havelid's 50-foot slap shot past Tommy Salo's glove for a two-goal cushion with 9:16 remaining. "It was a great play by Nicky," Kariya said. "I don't know if he saw me, but it was a great pass." Kariya's power-play goal was his first in 18 games, including the final six games of last season. He led the Ducks in 1999-2000 with 11. The Ducks, 1-for-9 on the power play, were 0-for-13 against Edmonton in four meetings last season. The Oilers were the only team to blank Anaheim on the power play in a season series of more than two games. Earlier in the period, Kariya whirled around Brian Swanson at the Edmonton blue line and fed the puck to Selanne, who scored his fifth goal on a 30-foot slap shot that beat Salo to the stick side for a 2-1 lead. Jason Smith scored a short-handed goal and Doug Weight added a goal in the final minute for the Oilers, who have won only five of their last 19 games at the Pond. Oilers coach Craig MacTavish was assessed a bench minor for verbally abusing referee Dennis LaRue before the third period. But the Ducks' power play backfired, as Smith scored the tying goal with 21 seconds left on the penalty. "We wanted to stay off the officials, and we talked about it between the second and third periods," MacTavish said. "But the first thing the official did was get on us again. I said something stupid, something I shouldn't have said, and took a stupid penalty." Moments later, Ryan Smyth shrugged off a check by Selanne at the right boards and got the puck to Smith, whose 35-foot wrist shot deflected in off goalie Guy Hebert's glove and tied it at 1. Hebert finished with 29 saves. "I just kind of followed up the play and put it on net," Smith said. "I wasn't trying to put it in off his glove. I got lucky." The Ducks had only one shot in the second period until Matt Cullen opened the scoring with his second goal of the season at 11:46. Edmonton defenseman Janne Niinimaa attempted to bat the puck out of the Oilers' zone, but Cullen gloved it, dropped the puck at his feet and beat Salo low to the stick side with a 35-foot slap shot. Anaheim had a chance to add to its lead when defenseman Vitaly Vishnevski drew a slashing penalty against Todd Marchant -- and a kneeing penalty against Igor Ulanov -- in the same sequence. But the Ducks wasted most of the ensuing 5-on-3 advantage, setting up for the perfect shot and managed only two on net. "We just played horribly, especially on the 5-on-3," Kariya said. "We couldn't generate a shot, but we stuck with it. We didn't panic. We stayed with it, and eventually it paid off. We came through at the end." The Ducks, outshot 3-0 on their first power play, were awarded another just as Niinimaa's high-sticking penalty expired. But Anaheim didn't get a shot on goal during that one either. Kariya was forced to haul down Edmonton's Mike Grier in front of the Anaheim net with 36 seconds left on the Ducks' man advantage, preventing a short-handed goal and earning Kariya an interference penalty. Game notesKariya has a point in seven straight games. ... Anaheim has not lost more than three consecutive home games since a five-game drought from Feb. 7-March 11, 1998. ... Patrick Cote, who has yet to make his Oilers debut after being recalled from Hamilton of the AHL on Tuesday, has one goal and 359 penalty minutes in 99 NHL games. At that pace, the 25-year-old left wing would have to spend almost 600 hours in the penalty box by the time he got his 100th NHL goal. ... Anaheim's 13 points are the most the Ducks have had after 11 games in their seven-year history. ... Marty McInnis and Mike Leclerc were given gift-wrapped assists on Cullen's goal. Niinimaa and Oilers defense partner Tom Poti were the last players to touch the puck before Cullen's shot. ... The Oilers are 1-for-20 on the power play in their last four games. ... Anaheim defenseman Ruslan Salei returned to the lineup after missing two games because of a bruised left foot. | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Edmonton Clubhouse Anaheim Clubhouse RECAPS Buffalo 2 Toronto 1
Anaheim 3 AUDIO/VIDEO   Guy Hebert gets in the way of a Brian Swanson slap shot.avi: 598 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 | |||||