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BOX SCORE
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) – The Detroit Red Wings have enough talent
throughout their lineup to beat teams while skating at even
strength. When they play with an extra attacker, they're nearly
unbeatable.
Wednesday night, the Red Wings did all their scoring on the
power play, as goals by Steve Duchesne, Igor Larionov and Pat
Verbeek fueled a 3-1 victory over the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. Detroit
has scored seven times with the man advantage in its last two
games.
"Our power play has been kind to us most of the year," right
wing Darren McCarty said after the Red Wings extended their
unbeaten streak to 12 games.
"If you look at our lineup, we can throw a couple of powerful
units out on the ice that switch it up a little and can confuse the
opposition. Right now we're just trying to ride what we've got
going here, and the power play is helping us out."
The victory, coupled with St. Louis' loss at Edmonton, helped
Detroit regain first place from St. Louis in the Central Division.
The Red Wings, 10-0-2 since losing at New Jersey on Jan. 30, have
played a full calendar month without losing for the first time in
their 75-year history.
Manny Legace, who blanked Phoenix over the final two periods in
Sunday's victory after inheriting a three-goal deficit from Chris
Osgood, made 24 saves in his first start since beating the Ducks on
Jan. 26 at Detroit.
Anaheim's German Titov spoiled Legace's bid for his second
career shutout with just 10 seconds left, helping Anaheim avoid its
eighth shutout loss and sixth at home. Until then, the closest the
Ducks came to scoring was when Marty McInnis' 25-foot wrist shot
from the left circle hit the post during a power play with 13:38
left in the second period.
"Sure you get upset about losing the shutout, but the guys
battled hard for me all night. So I can't blame them," Legace
said. "I can remember getting lucky a couple of times in the
second period, once on a 2-on-1 when the puck just squeezed under
my arm and rolled wide, and that other one off the post. So it kind
of equals out at the end."
Anaheim's Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 31 saves, 13 in the
opening period, to keep the Red Wings from breaking the game open.
He denied them on three short-handed bids, by Steve Yzerman and
Kirk Maltby in the first period and Brendan Shanahan in the second.
The Red Wings established a season best by scoring on the power
play for the ninth consecutive game, after Vitaly Vishnevski got
four minutes for an inadvertent high stick to the face of Mathieu
Dandenault. Giguere was called for holding Tomas Holmstrom's stick
just eight seconds later.
Duchesne opened the scoring during the two-man advantage with
his sixth goal, whipping a 15-foot wrist shot from the right circle
past Giguere's glove at 4:32 of the first period.
Larionov converted a cross-ice feed from Martin Lapointe at the
right of the crease with 13:35 remaining, while Jim Cummins was off
for roughing.
Verbeek made it 3-0, 10 minutes later, with his 13th goal and
513th of his career. It moved him past Gilbert Perreault into 24th
place on the NHL career list.
Teemu Selanne, the Ducks' leading scorer, sat out because of a
strained left knee.
"He was doubtful as of yesterday," coach Guy Charron said.
"We knew his knee wasn't reacting as expected. He wasn't able to
play at 100 percent. There was enough soreness and swelling that we
didn't feel he should play."
Game notes
The Red Wings were forced to practice Tuesday a few miles
away at Disney Ice, after dressing at the Pond and bussing over.
The arena was in its basketball configuration, while Vancouver
Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley was checking it out as a possible
new home for his NBA franchise. ... Detroit improved to 29-6-5
against the Ducks, including a four-game sweep this season, and
four-game sweeps in the 1997 and 1999 playoffs.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Detroit Clubhouse
Anaheim Clubhouse
RECAPS
Columbus 5
Phoenix 2
Montreal 4
Pittsburgh 2
NY Rangers 4
Florida 2
Toronto 2
San Jose 1
Edmonton 5
St. Louis 3
Vancouver 5
Dallas 4
Detroit 3
Anaheim 1
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Steve Duchesne fires the one-timer past Jean-Sebastien Giguere to open the scoring.
avi: 938 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Igor Larionov receives a fortunate bounce and puts the Wings up 2-0.
avi: 979 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Pat Verbeek gives Detroit its third power-play goal.
avi: 1008 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Anaheim avoids the shutout with German Titov's goal with 10 seconds left.
avi: 891 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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