Teemu Selanne beat up on his former club with two power-play goals, as the Anaheim Ducks beat the Colorado Avalanche, 4-1, Monday night at the Honda Center.
Selanne’s first goal at 10:19 in the first period was his 200th power play goal of his career, and now gives him a comfortable lead as the all-time goal scorer on the power play by a non-North American born player.
The Ducks (12-8-3) added another goal three minutes later, as Chris Kunitz beat Peter Budaj with a slap shot to give Anaheim the 2-0 lead going into the locker room.
Chris Pronger added another in the second for the Ducks, who outshot the Avs 8-4 in the period.
The third period would bring a goaltender change for Colorado (9-11-0), as head coach Tony Granato pulled Budaj in favor of Andrew Raycroft.
The change seemed to help, as the Avalanche jumped out early in the third period with an Ian Leperriere tip-in goal after a shot by John Michael-Liles from the point.
Though the goal ended Jean-Sebastien Giguere’s hope for a shutout, Giguere played magically, stopping 29 of the 30 shots he faced.
However, Anaheim's penalty kill also helped, keeping Colorado zero-for-four on the power play.
The Avs did have a chance to cut into the Ducks' lead when they had a power play seven minutes into the third period right after the momentum they gained from Laperriere’s goal.
Colorado wouldn’t be able to capitalize—but Anaheim would, in their power-play chance four minutes later.
Anaheim went two-for-three on the power play on Monday night.
Colorado will look to rebound when they host the St. Louis Blues at 7:00 P.M. (MST) on Wednesday, Nov. 26. Meanwhile, the Ducks have a few days off before playing host to the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday Nov. 28 at 1:00 P.M. (PST).
Game Notes
Let’s Get It On
It didn’t take long for the Ducks and the Avs to drop the gloves. Cody McLeod for Colorado and Nathan McIver for Anaheim started the game with a fight just seven seconds after the puck was dropped. Both, of course, received five-minute major penalties.
About Time
Daniel Tjarnqvist played his first game in an Avalanche jersey on Monday, after signing with the club in the offseason. Tjarnqvist has been available to play throughout the season, but has been a healthy scratch in every contest.
More Injuries
Darcy Tucker left the game with 16:12 left in the third period with a left-knee injury after a hit with Brendan Morrison. His status is up in the air for Wednesday’s game against St. Louis. Tucker’s injury adds to the injury woes of Colorado, which already had Joe Sakic, Wojtek Wolski, Ben Guite, and Adam Foote scratched with injuries on Monday night.
Zeiler Suspended
John Zeiler of the Los Angeles Kings has been suspended for three games after Saturday night’s hit on Adam Foote into the boards. The hit happened at 6:51 of the second period, where Foote laid motionless for several seconds. Although stretcher was brought out, Foote would leave the ice with help from the medical staff. Zeiler will lose $8,770.17 for the hit.
“A” New Captain
With injuries to Joe Sakic and Adam Foote, Colorado awarded Brett Clark the Alternate Captain's “A” for his jersey in Monday’s contest. It will be interesting to see if the “A” will find a permanent place on Clark’s sweater.
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