Teemu Selanne scores in possible farewell game, Ducks rout Oilers 7-2 in season finale

Selanne, Ducks rout Oilers 7-2 in season finale

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Teemu Selanne scored his 606th goal in possibly his final NHL game, and the Anaheim Ducks beat the Edmonton Oilers 7-2 Sunday night in the league’s regular-season finale.

Ryan Carter scored twice for the Ducks, who didn’t know whether they were bidding farewell to Selanne or captain Scott Niedermayer. Both mainstays of Anaheim’s 2007 Stanley Cup championship team haven’t decided whether they’ll return to the Ducks, who missed the playoffs for the first time since 2004.

The Honda Center was ringed with dozens of signs and banners in English and Finnish, praising Selanne and demanding another year from him and Niedermayer, the 36-year-old defenseman.

Niedermayer and Selanne led the Ducks around the ice for a postgame victory lap. They waved and shook their sticks at the cheering crowd, which repeatedly chanted “One more year!” at its veteran stars.

Ryan Whitney scored against his former teammates for the Oilers, who finished last in the NHL with 62 points, 12 fewer than 29th-place Toronto. Edmonton had won three straight before falling behind early against the Ducks, whose 25 home victories were more than any of the five teams above them in the West standings.

Mike Comrie scored his third goal in two games for Edmonton, and Jeff Deslauriers stopped 38 shots.

After Anaheim took a 3-1 lead in the first period, Selanne scored on a power play just 16 seconds into the second, taking a pass from Saku Koivu and beating Deslauriers on the short side.

Anaheim fans gave Selanne a standing ovation, just in case it was their last chance to cheer the franchise’s scoring leader — yet there’s ample reason to believe the 39-year-old forward could keep going after a remarkable season.

Selanne scored 27 goals in 54 games, ranking eighth in the NHL in goals per game. Despite missing significant playing time with a broken finger and a broken jaw, the Finnish Flash was mostly outstanding while scoring 48 points, leading him to hold open the possibility of another season after repeatedly saying he expected to retire.

Niedermayer had 10 goals and 38 assists while playing heavy ice time in a season most notable for his role at the Olympics, where he captained Canada to a gold medal on its home ice.

Jonas Hiller made 18 saves for Anaheim before leaving late in the second period with another flare-up of back spasms, which kept him out for seven of the past eight games.

Carter, who had just two goals in his first 37 games, and Steve Eminger scored 32 seconds apart early in the first period, and Matt Beleskey added his third goal in two games. Carter, Ducks enforcer George Parros and Kyle Chipchura scored for Anaheim in the third.

With three fewer wins and two fewer points, Anaheim dropped from eighth place last season in the West to 11th with 89 points, one behind ninth-place St. Louis and Calgary. The veteran-laden Ducks reached the playoffs’ second round last spring by upsetting top-seeded San Jose, but couldn’t overcome the offseason loss of defensemen Chris Pronger and Francois Beauchemin, leading to an early-season slump from which they never recovered.

NOTES: C Ryan Getzlaf missed the Ducks’ final nine games with ankle problems that began shortly before the Olympics. Getzlaf still played for Canada, but had just two goals and six assists in 10 games for Anaheim after returning from Vancouver. … RW Corey Perry was the Ducks’ only player to appear in all 82 games, though Jason Blake also played in 82 after arriving Jan. 31 in a trade with Toronto for longtime Ducks G Jean-Sebastien Giguere. … Chipchura’s short-handed goal was the first of his career.