Thursday, Mar. 29 10:30pm ET
Selanne nets hat trick vs. former team
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SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) – When Teemu Selanne was traded from
Anaheim to San Jose earlier this month, some thought Selanne and
Mighty Ducks captain Paul Kariya would never be the same without
each other.
|  | | The Sharks' Teemu Selanne, right, speeds toward the goal under heavy pressure by Samuel Pahlsson. |
Turns out those fears were accurate. In their first meeting as
opponents, both former members of the Ducks' dynamic duo were
better than ever.
Selanne and Kariya scored three goals apiece in spectacular
individual displays by two of hockey's top scorers, but the Sharks
shook their offensive slump to beat Kariya and the Mighty Ducks 7-4
Thursday night.
"I was very excited. I tried not to show emotion, but it was
very special," Selanne said. "I just tried to think it's another
game, but this is pretty sweet."
Selanne scored the Sharks' final three goals for his 18th career
hat trick. Kariya got two goals in the first period on the way to
his fifth career hat trick, but he got none of the help from his
teammates that the Sharks provided to Selanne.
"It was fun, but it would have been nicer to get the win
tonight," Kariya said.
Selanne and Kariya never scored hat tricks in the same game
during the five years they played together on Anaheim's top line,
but they developed a mental kinship that even showed up while they
wore different jerseys. After Selanne's first goal late in the
second period, the first player he ran into was Kariya.
"I thought he was going to give me a hug," Selanne laughed.
Niklas Sundstrom tied San Jose's team record with four assists,
including a beautiful cross-ice pass to Selanne for a score that
capped a four-goal second period. Selanne also scored in the third
period and added an empty-netter for his first goals in seven games
with San Jose.
San Jose's fans, overjoyed at their team's explosion after six
weeks of struggle, littered the ice with dozens of hats and erupted
in chants of "Teemu! Teemu!"
Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 12 shots for his first NHL victory as
the Sharks won consecutive games for the first time since
mid-February. San Jose nearly wasted the best start in franchise
history with a 1-9-2-2 string, but the Sharks may be righting
themselves just in time.
"I felt good, but I don't want to take too much credit,"
Selanne said. "It was a team effort."
With the playoffs just five games away, the Sharks (37-26-12-2,
88 points) moved one point past Vancouver for the sixth spot in the
Western Conference, one point behind Edmonton. All three teams have
five games remaining.
Selanne shook his scoring drought, while Jeff Friesen, sent to
Anaheim in the deal, got a warm welcome from the San Jose crowd
before the disappointing result.
"Things couldn't have gone any worse, but that's part of pro
sports," said Friesen, who saw dozens of fans wearing his San Jose
jersey.
Kiprusoff relieved Evgeni Nabokov late in the first period and
allowed just one goal. Owen Nolan, Scott Thornton, Alex Korolyuk
and Mike Ricci also scored for the Sharks, who entered on a
1-for-37 power-play slump but scored three extra-man goals.
"I thought the game was decided in the second period," Anaheim
coach Guy Charron said. "They're a confident team that's won some
good games, and what we didn't do is stand up to the pressure they
put on us."
Jean-Sebastien Giguere stopped 29 shots for the Ducks, who were
outshot 36-21.
Selanne's first goal -- his first in seven games with the Sharks
-- came on a power play with 16.3 seconds left in the second period.
He got another midway through the third period when he rebounded
Bryan Marchment's shot and banked the puck in off Giguere's back.
Nabokov was pulled after German Titov forced a puck between
Nabokov's pads while he was being hauled down on a partial
breakaway, giving Anaheim a 3-1 lead.
Game notes
San Jose center Vincent Damphousse consulted a Montreal doctor
about his separated shoulder last weekend. His recovery from
surgery is ahead of schedule, and he said he expects to return
during the team's first-round playoff series. ... Sharks defenseman Brad
Stuart, the runner-up last season for rookie of the year, was a
healthy scratch for the third straight game. Sharks coach Darryl
Sutter apparently is displeased with the effort of Stuart, who had
never been scratched in his two NHL seasons except for a two-game
suspension. ... Ducks wing Jonas Ronnqvist was scratched with a
strained abdominal muscle.
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NY Rangers 6
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Montreal 6
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Phoenix 3
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San Jose 7
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