Recap
Avalanche 4, Ducks 3
Associated Press

Photo Gallery: COL 4, ANA 3
Video: Game Highlights
Feature: Mueller Impresses
Statistics: Game Summary
Statistics: Event Summary

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Peter Mueller scored in his Avalanche debut, T.J. Galiardi netted the eventual game-winner with 10:41 remaining and the Colorado Avalanche snapped the Anaheim Ducks' 11-game home winning streak with a 4-3 victory Wednesday night.

Chris Stewart and Matt Duchene also scored and Craig Anderson made 31 saves for the Avalanche, which rallied from a 2-0 deficit with three straight goals on the power play before holding off the Ducks, who returned from the Olympic break with six medalists in their lineup.

U.S. Olympian Paul Stastny had three assists for Colorado, while Stewart had a goal and two assists for his fourth multi-point performance in six games.

Teemu Selanne scored his 598th career goal for the Ducks, who won 14 of 20 before the break. Captain Scott Niedermayer's power-play goal with 3:05 left trimmed Colorado's lead, but the Ducks ended up with their first loss at the Honda Center since Dec. 6.

Jason Blake had a goal and an assist, and Jonas Hiller made 21 saves as Anaheim wasted a chance to move into ninth place in the Western Conference standings. Anaheim's home winning streak was the longest in franchise history, and tied with Washington for the longest in the NHL this season.

Mueller tied it late in the second period with a bit of a fluke goal after arriving in a trade with Phoenix earlier Wednesday. Colorado is gambling on a resurgence from Mueller, dealing second-leading scorer Wojtek Wolski to Phoenix for the third-year pro.

Selanne also scored in his first game since becoming the leading scorer in Olympic hockey. The 18th-leading goal-scorer in NHL history converted an easy shot after a no-look pass from Blake, who drew two defenders with an entry pass from Saku Koivu, Selanne's fellow Finnish bronze medalist.

The Ducks played with just five defensemen after a flurry of trades and personnel moves in the previous 48 hours. Anaheim bolstered its struggling blue line by acquiring defensemen Lubomir Visnovsky from Edmonton and Aaron Ward from Carolina, shipping defenseman Ryan Whitney to the Oilers just one day after he returned from winning a silver medal with Team USA in Vancouver.

The Avalanche also was active at the deadline, reacquiring veteran Stephane Yelle after picking up Mueller and Kevin Porter from Phoenix for Wolski, who had 47 points.

Mueller had just 17 points in 54 games with Phoenix, but Colorado is betting a change of scenery will inspire the former No. 8 overall draft pick to recapture the scoring prowess he demonstrated as a rookie two seasons ago.

The Avalanche immediately installed Mueller on the point of their power play, and he tied it with a strange man-advantage goal late in the second period. After John-Michael Liles dived to stop the puck from leaving the zone, Mueller simply flipped it toward the net - and his shot deflected off an Anaheim defender and eluded Hiller.

Mueller then took a tripping penalty early in the third period, ruining a power play for the Avalanche - but Anaheim's Steve Eminger created another power play that led to Duchene's score by flipping the puck over the glass moments later for a delay of game call.

NOTES: Anaheim also exchanged backup goalies with Calgary, getting Curtis McElhinney for Vesa Toskala, who never played in a game for the Ducks after arriving in a trade with Toronto in late January. ... RW Dan Sexton was back in Anaheim's lineup for the first time since Jan. 29 after spending the last month in the minors. He scored 18 points in 28 games earlier this season.


Three star selections
1st:   CRAIG ANDERSON
2nd:   RYAN GETZLAF
3rd:   PAUL STASTNY
Winning Goaltender
Craig Anderson

Losing Goaltender
Jonas Hiller

SCHEDULE

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PROMOTIONAL

STANDINGS

WESTERN CONFERENCE
  TEAM GP W L OT GF GA PTS
1 p - CHI 48 36 7 5 155 102 77
2 y - ANA 48 30 12 6 140 118 66
3 y - VAN 48 26 15 7 127 121 59
4 x - STL 48 29 17 2 129 115 60
5 x - LAK 48 27 16 5 133 118 59
6 x - SJS 48 25 16 7 124 116 57
7 x - DET 48 24 16 8 124 115 56
8 x - MIN 48 26 19 3 122 127 55
9 CBJ 48 24 17 7 120 119 55
10 PHX 48 21 18 9 125 131 51
11 DAL 48 22 22 4 130 142 48
12 EDM 48 19 22 7 125 134 45
13 CGY 48 19 25 4 128 160 42
14 NSH 48 16 23 9 111 139 41
15 COL 48 16 25 7 116 152 39

STATS

2012-2013 REGULAR SEASON
SKATERS: GP G A +/- Pts
P. Parenteau 48 18 25 -11 43
M. Duchene 47 17 26 -12 43
P. Stastny 40 9 15 -7 24
J. McGinn 47 11 11 -13 22
J. Mitchell 47 10 10 5 20
R. O'Reilly 29 6 14 -3 20
G. Landeskog 36 9 8 -4 17
T. Barrie 32 2 11 -11 13
C. McLeod 48 8 4 4 12
M. Hejduk 29 4 7 -7 11
 
GOALIES: W L OT Sv% GAA
J. Giguere 5 4 4 .908 2.84
S. Varlamov 11 21 3 .903 3.02
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