Niedermayer leads Ducks past Hurricanes

Published 4:00 am Monday, December 1, 2008

RALEIGH, N.C. — Rob Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne scored in a 1:09 span of the third period, and Niedermayer added another goal to help the Anaheim Ducks beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1 on Sunday night.

The Ducks, 13-3-3 since a 3-1 loss to Carolina on Oct. 19, tied a team record by earning at least a point in their eighth consecutive road game.

Selanne tipped in Chris Pronger’s slap shot on a power play with 12:44 left, and Niedermayer took a pass from Brendan Morrison and scored with 11:35 to go.

Niedermayer scored again with about 5 minutes left to seal the Hurricanes’ fourth loss in five games.

Jonas Hiller made 36 saves, allowing only Matt Cullen’s first-period goal.

The slow-starting Hurricanes outshot the Ducks 17-3 in the second period, but couldn’t break through against Hiller. Anaheim didn’t have a shot on goal in the first 12 minutes of the period, but it didn’t matter.

The Hurricanes’ Frantisek Kaberle hit the post with a slap shot, and two follow shots were missed or saved. Later in the period, Eric Staal gathered a loose puck in front of the goal, but couldn’t put away three chances against Hiller.

Ryan Getzlaf scored less than 2 minutes in for Anaheim, marking the 10th consecutive game Carolina’s opponent has scored first.

Getzlaf has points in 17 of his last 18 games.

The Hurricanes came up empty on four power-play chances, two each in the second and third periods, extending their streak of power plays without a goal to 25. The Ducks have killed 18 consecutive power-play opportunities.

Carolina goalie Cam Ward left after the first period because of what was announced as a lower-body injury. He was replaced by Michael Leighton, who stopped the first seven shots he faced before the consecutive goals by Selanne and Niedermayer.

Also on Sunday:

Panthers 4

Rangers 0

NEW YORK — Stephen Weiss and Gregory Campbell scored 12 seconds apart in the second period and Craig Anderson made 37 saves for his sixth NHL shutout in Florida’s victory over New York.

Blues 4

Thrashers 2

ATLANTA — Keith Tkachuk tied it at 2 late in the second period for his 1,000th point, and Brad Boyes scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third for St. Louis. The Thrashers lost for the sixth time in seven games and the Blues ended a two-game losing streak.

Stars 4

Oilers 3

DALLAS — Mike Modano scored on a power play with 2:21 remaining to give Dallas a victory over Edmonton. Modano broke a tie with his 537th career goal, beating rookie Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers from the left circle off a feed from Brad Richards.

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