Ducks beat Sharks; Selanne inches closer to milestone

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03/14/2010 - Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Teemu Selanne posted a goal and one assist and crept closer to becoming the NHL's all-time leading Finnish goal scorer, as Anaheim topped San Jose, 4-2, at Honda Center.

Selanne posted his 599th career goal, two away from tying him with Hall-of- Famer Jari Kurri for most-ever by a native Finn. Kurri netted 601 scores in 17 seasons with Edmonton, Los Angeles, the New York Rangers, Anaheim and Colorado. In addition, the 39-year-old's next score will make him the 18th player in league history to reach 600.

Corey Perry, Lubomir Visnovsky and Bobby Ryan also lit the lamp for the Ducks, who halted a five-game losing skid. Jonas Hiller stopped 31 shots for the win.

Joe Thornton and Jamie McGinn provided the offense for the Sharks, who have lost two straight since winning three in a row.

Evgeni Nabokov yielded three goals on 32 shots in the setback.

Selanne put the Ducks ahead by a 2-0 count at 7:40 of the first period, when his quick short-side wrister off a dish from Saku Koivu resulted in his 20th goal of the season and got him one closer to Kurri's record.

Visnovsky made it 3-0 with 55 seconds to play in the first, when his knuckler from the point got through an unscreened Nabokov.

In the second period, the Ducks provided Selanne with multiple chances for his milestone marker, but Nabokov shut the door on all three registered shots.

Thornton's power-play deflection got the Sharks on the board at 9:06 of the third, but Hiller managed to turn aside the San Jose attack.

Nabokov went to the bench for an extra skater with 1:24 to play and Ryan hit the empty net seconds later. The San Jose net was empty once more when Kent Huskins provided a shot which McGinn tipped with his leg past Hiller to make it 4-2 with 56 seconds on the clock.

San Jose failed to make a further dent in its deficit, however.

Perry followed up an unsuccessful Ryan rush by chipping the loose puck over a prone Nabokov 3:27 after the opening faceoff.

Game Notes

Selanne has recorded 15 seasons of 20-or-more goals, with nine of them coming with the Anaheim franchise...San Jose did take five of six games in the season series...Prior to the game, the Sharks assigned defenseman Jason Demers to Worcester of the American Hockey League.

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