ANAHEIM, Calif. — Teemu Selanne became the 18th member of the 600-goal club, scoring 34 seconds into the second period on the power play as the Anaheim Ducks beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-2 on Sunday night.
Selanne is the fourth player to reach the coveted milestone in the last four seasons, along with Jaromir Jagr, Brendan Shanahan and Joe Sakic.
The 10-time all-star was the recipient of the first two Maurice “Rocket” Richard trophies as the NHL’s top goal scorer in 1997-98 (52) and 1998-99 (47) and won his first Stanley Cup with the Ducks in 2007.
The 39-year-old right-winger from Finland, playing his 16th and perhaps his final season in the NHL, scored on his fifth shot of the game while John-Michael Liles was off for hooking Matt Beleskey.
Craig Anderson stopped Lubomir Visnovsky’s one-timer from just inside the blue-line, then thwarted Corey Perry’s rebound attempt. But the Avalanche defence couldn’t clear the puck, and Selanne slammed his 21st goal of the season into a wide-open net before Anderson could scramble back to the crease.
Rob Niedermayer was credited with an assist in addition to Perry.
Anderson became the 133rd goaltender that Selanne has scored against in the regular season. His first NHL goal came against San Jose’s Jeff Hackett on Oct. 8, 1992. Selanne is the Ducks’ career leader with 373.
Jonas Hiller finished with 26 saves after Jason Blake and Beleskey helped stake him to a 4-0 lead with first-period goals. Blake’s came on a power play, as did Ryan Getzlaf’s 19th goal in the third period. Rookie Troy Bodie got his first career short-handed goal at 12:45 of the second period, chasing Anderson to the bench after he stopped 15 of 19 shots.
Darcy Tucker and former Ducks defenceman Ruslan Salei scored third-period goals 3:09 apart for the Avalanche.
The Ducks, 2-for-27 on the power play over their previous eight games, cashed in the first time they had the man advantage while Peter Mueller was off for holding Beleskey. Blake opened the scoring at 4:43 of the first period with his 14th goal, getting control of a loose puck behind the net and carrying it out in front before sliding a backhander past Anderson’s glove.
Beleskey made it 2-0 at 11:43 with his eighth of the season. Perry flipped the puck into the zone from the right boards and Milan Hejduk overskated it, allowing Getzlaf to feed Beleskey in the slot for a 20-foot wrist shot that beat Anderson to the stick side.
