ANAHEIM, Calif. – Anthony Stewart scored his first three goals of the season, completing his first career hat trick with a tying power-play goal that was upheld by video replay late in the third period, and the Atlanta Thrashers beat the Anaheim Ducks 5-4 in a shootout on Friday night.
Stewart, who had only four goals in 105 games entering this season, got the equalizer with 5:22 left in regulation while Corey Perry was off for slashing Alexander Burmistrov. Atlanta's Rich Peverley tried to bat a fluttering puck into the net with a high stick and grazed it, then Stewart's stick also hit the puck before it went in.
Two of Stewart's goals came with the man advantage. He had a chance to win it in the final seconds of regulation, but the puck slid off his stick at the end of a breakaway and Jonas Hiller was able to stop it with his right leg. Hiller stopped Atlanta's first three shots of the shootout before Nigel Dawes beat him to the glove side to end it.
Chris Mason made 37 saves for the Thrashers and turned aside all four Anaheim shots in the tiebreaker.
Teemu Selanne had a power-play goal and added two assists for Anaheim. Corey Perry also had a power-play goal and two assists for the Ducks, who are off to a 1-4 start after missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004. Captain Ryan Getzlaf had a power-play goal and an assist, and Jonas Hiller made 29 saves in the only meeting between the teams this season.
Selanne put Anaheim ahead 3-2 with 52 seconds left in the second period, banging home a short pass from behind the net by Saku Koivu while Nik Antropov was off for hooking Getzlaf. The goal was Selanne's 608th, tying Dino Ciccarelli for 16th place on the career list and putting him within two of Bobby Hull.
Getzlaf made it 4-2 with Anaheim's third power-play goal, beating Mason from short range with 13:25 remaining after defenseman Freddy Meyer was sent off for hooking Jason Blake. The goal turned out to be significant, because Stewart connected on another power play with 9:35 left in the game and Brendan Mikkelson off for high-sticking Burmistrov.
The Ducks, who came in averaging a league-high 39.0 penalty minutes through their first four games, didn't get their first minor penalty until defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky was sent off for tripping Evander Kane at 12:19 of the second period. The Thrashers capitalized on the ensuing power play.
Chris Thorburn parked himself in front of the net and redirected Dustin Byfuglien's long slap shot over Hiller's glove, tying the score at 2-all. It was only his third goal since joining Atlanta in a trade with Pittsburgh in June, a deal that only cost the Thrashers a third-round draft pick.
Toni Lydman gave Anaheim a 2-1 lead at 9:43 of the second, converting a rebound after Mason stopped Selanne's shot from close range. The 10th-year veteran defenseman, a teammate of Selanne and Koivu on Finland's 2006 Olympic team, signed a $9 million contract with the Ducks in July after spending the previous five seasons with Buffalo. He missed all of training camp because of double vision.
Stewart opened the scoring just 17 seconds after the opening faceoff, beating Hiller to the stick side with a 40-foot slap shot after Andrew Ladd worked the puck free at the left boards and spotted him cruising down the slot.
The Ducks tied it at 8:43 of the first when Visnovsky got a cross-ice pass from Getzlaf and took a slap shot from the top of the left circle than deflected in off Perry's skate while Thorburn was serving a roughing penalty.
NOTES: Atlanta was 1 for 14 on the power play through their first four games, and the only goal had come during a two-man advantage. ... Selanne is one of only five players remaining from the Ducks' 2007 Stanley Cup championship squad, along with Perry, Getzlaf, C Todd Marchant and RW George Parros. ... Selanne has nine goals in 11 games against the Thrashers.
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