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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- The Mighty Ducks' defense did it all,
even the offense.
|  | | Chicago's Michael Nylander, center, fends off a check by Anaheim's Pascal Trepanier, right, as Paul Kariya trails the play. |
Anaheim defensemen Niklas Havelid and Ruslan Salei scored two
minutes apart in the second period, and goaltender Guy Hebert
stopped 21 shots in a 2-0 victory Friday night over the Chicago
Blackhawks.
"It was a terrific game by our defense," said Anaheim's Paul
Kariya, who assisted on Havelid's goal. "I thought they played
extremely well. They were blocking shots and scored two very big
goals for us."
The shutout was Hebert's third of the season and 25th of his
career.
"It's never easy getting a shutout, but the guys do a
tremendous job out in front of me every night, limiting the
goal-scoring chances," Hebert said. "That makes any goalie
happy."
The shutout continued what has been a solid defensive run by the
Mighty Ducks, who have allowed only nine goals in their last seven
games.
Hebert, meanwhile, has held the opposition to two or fewer goals
in 15 of the last 18 games he has played.
The Mighty Ducks won three in a row for the first time this
season after winning two straight six different times.
Hebert liked that even better than putting up a goose egg for
Chicago.
"It's even more important that we finally got the third win in
a row," he said. "We've been nibbling at it all year long."
Said Kariya: "It's nice to get the monkey off our backs and get
a little bit of a roll going."
Havelid snapped a scoreless tie with his second goal of the
season, 7:25 into the second period. He fired from the top of the
left circle and the puck slipped just inside the near post and
under the stick of goalie Jocelyn Thibault, shielded on the play by
Anaheim's Teemu Selanne.
Anaheim struck again when Salei, also getting his second goal,
scored on a power play.
Salei finished up a fine sequence of crisp passes on the scoring
play. Tony Donato, near the blue line, passed to Matt Cullen, who
was behind the goal line, and Cullen quickly wristed a pass out to
Salei, alone as he skated down the left side.
The Mighty Ducks, on the attack most of the game, got off 30
shots against Thibault.
"We worked really hard, but you can't win the game getting off
only five or six scoring opportunities," Thibault said. "I've got
to give the team a chance to win every game. I'm not going to let
my win-loss record (3-11-3) affect me."
Anaheim has been dominating Chicago in their series recently,
going 7-1-1 in the last nine meetings, including 2-0-1 this season.
The Mighty Ducks also have lost just three of the last 15 games
against Chicago, although the Blackhawks still hold a 13-12-3 edge
in the all-time series.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Chicago Clubhouse
Anaheim Clubhouse
RECAPS
Florida 4
Buffalo 2
Boston 3
Atlanta 1
Detroit 5
Colorado 2
Washington 3
NY Rangers 2
Dallas 2
Edmonton 2
Anaheim 2
Chicago 0
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