Ducks' Teemu Selanne Nets 500th Goal

Teemu Selanne scored his 500th goal and the Columbus Blue Jackets hired a new coach. Still, neither managed to win. <br/><br/>With a power-play goal for the Anaheim Ducks in the second period Wednesday

Thursday, November 23rd 2006, 6:40 am

By: News On 6

Teemu Selanne scored his 500th goal and the Columbus Blue Jackets hired a new coach. Still, neither managed to win.

With a power-play goal for the Anaheim Ducks in the second period Wednesday night against Colorado, Selanne became the 36th player in NHL history to reach the milestone.

``I was kidding him, because I saw him score 76 in his first year in the league,'' Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said. ``So he has really slumped for the other 424.''

Joe Sakic scored in a shootout and the Avalanche overcame Selanne's 500th to beat the visiting Ducks 3-2. The 36-year-old Selanne joined Jari Kurri as the only Finnish-born NHL players to reach the mark.

``Getting 500 goals is a great achievement, but it would have been almost a crime to win this game,'' Selanne said. ``The first 30 minutes was the worst hockey I have ever seen in eight years here.''

The Blue Jackets have been playing plenty of poor hockey themselves, but they hope that will change with the arrival of coach Ken Hitchcock.

Fired this season by Philadelphia, he was to be formally introduced as Columbus' fifth head coach at a news conference Thursday. Team president and general manager Doug MacLean announced Hitchcock's hiring shortly before the team took the ice in a 4-3 shootout loss at home against St. Louis _ the Blue Jackets' final game before Hitchcock takes over as coach.

``He's a winner. He's a guy that pushes people to the limit. And we have a lot of guys that need to be pushed,'' MacLean said during the first intermission.

In other NHL games, it was: Buffalo 7, Toronto 4; Ottawa 3, Philadelphia 2 in OT; Atlanta 4, Washington 2; Montreal 4, Minnesota 2; Boston 4, Pittsburgh 3 in a shootout; Vancouver 4, Detroit 3 in a shootout; Tampa Bay 6, Florida 4; the New York Islanders 4, Carolina 2; Dallas 1, Nashville 0; Phoenix 3, New Jersey 1; Calgary 4, Chicago 1; and San Jose 6, Los Angeles 3.

Hitchcock guided the Dallas Stars to the Stanley Cup in 1999 and has 408 career victories in 750 NHL games. He replaces interim head coach Gary Agnew, an assistant to Gerard Gallant who was elevated to the top job after Gallant was fired on Nov. 14.

Hitchcock's new contract runs through the 2008-09 season and is believed to be in the range of the $1.2 million annually he received from the Flyers.

The loss to St. Louis dropped the Blue Jackets to an NHL-worst 5-13-1-1. They will try to snap a seven-game losing streak Friday in Philadelphia.

Hitchcock was asked if he would be behind the bench when Columbus plays his former team.

``You bet,'' he said twice.

At Denver, Tyler Arnason and Brad Richardson scored in regulation for the Avalanche. Jose Theodore made 30 saves and stopped Selanne, Ryan Shannon and Ryan Getzlaf in the shootout to win a rematch of last season's Western Conference semifinal.

``We found a way to get to the shootout, and this year we've got a couple of wins with it,'' Sakic said. ``They are the best team in hockey and it was a big win for us.''

Dustin Penner also scored for the Ducks (15-2-6) and Chris Pronger had two assists. Jean-Sebastian Giguere stopped 41 shots and had his shutout streak snapped at 85 minutes, 44 seconds.

Sabres 7, Maple Leafs 4

At Buffalo, N.Y., Daniel Briere scored two goals and broke a third-period tie, and the Sabres erased another two-goal deficit. Of Buffalo's 18 wins, seven have come after it has trailed by at least a pair of goals. The Sabres have scored at least seven goals five times this season.

Senators 3, Flyers 2, OT

At Philadelphia, Wade Redden scored with 20.6 seconds left in overtime, and Mike Fisher and Daniel Alfredsson had second-period goals for Ottawa in its third straight victory. The Flyers lost their sixth straight home game and third in a row overall.

Thrashers 4, Capitals 2

At Washington, Bobby Holik got his 300th career goal and Atlanta scored three times in the second period to erase a two-goal deficit in a fight-filled game.

Glen Metropolit broke a 2-2 tie after Holik's goal evened the score. The Thrashers halted a four-game skid and improved to 4-0 against the Capitals, who lost their season-high fourth straight.

Canadiens 4, Wild 2

At Montreal, Radek Bonk scored 12:23 into the third period and Cristobal Huet made 36 saves to win his fourth straight.

Lightning 6, Panthers 4

At Sunrise, Fla., Ryan Craig and Brad Richards each scored twice and Johan Holmqvist made 31 saves.

Canucks 4, Red Wings 3, OT

At Detroit, Brendan Morrison scored his second goal of the game 3:01 into overtime and Vancouver overcame a two-goal deficit. Roberto Luongo made 27 saves. Detroit defenseman Chris Chelios tied Phil Housley for most games played by an American-born player (1,495).

Islanders 4, Hurricanes 2

At Uniondale, N.Y., Jason Blake and Alexei Yashin each had a goal and an assist, and Rick DiPietro stopped 13 shots for his seventh win this season. New York outshot the Stanley Cup champions 48-15 and improved to 4-1-1 in its last six games.

Bruins 4, Penguins 3, SO

At Pittsburgh, Marco Sturm scored one of three Boston goals during a second-period flurry, then won it by being the only player to score in the shootout.

The Penguins played without star Sidney Crosby because of a groin injury and went 0-for-8 on the power play until Mark Recchi scored the tying goal with 30 seconds remaining in the third period.

The Bruins won their eighth in a row against Pittsburgh since 2003.

Coyotes 3, Devils 1

At Glendale, Ariz., Dave Scatchard, Derek Morris and Owen Nolan scored for Phoenix, and Ladislav Nagy had two assists. The Coyotes limited New Jersey to 15 shots on goal.

Stars 1, Predators 0

At Dallas, Jeff Halpern scored into an open net at 4:11 of the third period when Nashville goalie Tomas Vokoun tried to play the puck, and rookie Mike Smith stopped 17 shots for his second shutout in his fourth career start.

Flames 4, Blackhawks 1

At Calgary, Alberta, Jarome Iginla scored twice and Miikka Kiprusoff made 25 saves for the Flames, who have won seven of eight overall and five in a row at home. Alex Tanguay had two assists for the fifth time in six games.

Sharks 6, Kings 3

At San Jose, Calif., Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau each had a goal and two assists, and the Sharks rebounded from Tuesday night's 5-0 loss to Anaheim.

Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Joe Pavelski scored their first NHL goals for San Jose, which played without injured forwards Jonathan Cheechoo (leg) and Milan Michalek (arm) in their seventh victory in nine games. Vesa Toskala allowed two soft goals but had 24 saves.

Kings goalie Dan Cloutier made just seven saves on 12 shots before getting yanked.