Ducks end long trip in style

DENVER -- Eight games. Fifteen days. Nearly 3,800 miles.

Add in 23 happy faces on the relieved Ducks that are finally on their way home.

Samuel Pahlsson’s goal with 4 minutes 21 seconds to play capped the longest continuous trip in the club’s history and made it a triumphant one for the Ducks, who beat the Colorado Avalanche, 2-1, Tuesday night in the Pepsi Center.

The numbers that carry the most meaning are five wins in a row and 11 points out of a possible 16 on the trip that leave the Ducks (32-22-7) four points behind first-place Dallas heading into a Pacific Division showdown against the Stars at home Friday night.

“We’ve got to see how this feels and make sure that we keep it,” Chris Pronger said. “Make sure we’re playing this way each and every night.”

Already with a jaunt to London in their season travelogue, the Ducks’ trip across America started with a lopsided loss in Minnesota followed by a shootout defeat in St. Louis and a loss to Philadelphia that stretched their losing streak to a season-high six games.

A team in need of a lift got one when Teemu Selanne played his first game, against the New York Islanders on Feb. 5. Selanne assisted on a power-play goal in a 3-0 win and they’ve been victorious ever since.

“The most encouraging part is we’ve had a real complete team effort,” Coach Randy Carlyle said. “They made the conscious decision. We knew that we were getting to a desperate situation. They turned it around when we got to the island.”

The winning goal came from the checking line of Pahlsson, Travis Moen and Rob Niedermayer, which was put back together by Carlyle after the first period.

Niedermayer chipped a pass back toward the slot for Moen, who couldn’t get off a clean shot but helped tie up goalie Jose Theodore during a scramble for the loose puck. Pahlsson jumped in and banged home the rebound in his second game back after sitting out nearly two months because of pain in his abdomen.

“I didn’t see the puck at first,” Pahlsson said. “It was three or four guys in front there. I just tried to get in there and hoped to get it on my stick and that’s what happened.”

Marek Svatos gave Colorado the lead 1:37 into the game but that was all goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere would give up during a 32-save effort.

Selanne lifted his teammates on the scoreboard in his fifth game since ending his retirement. Fittingly, it came on the power play, where he got a league-leading 25 of his 48 goals last season.

Helped by penalties taken by Colorado’s Svatos and Ian Laperriere eight seconds apart to end the first period, the Ducks began the second period with a two-man advantage. Selanne got a return pass from Ryan Getzlaf and threw a quick wrist shot on goal that went off Theodore.

The goal was Selanne’s 541st and marked his 669th point as a member of the Ducks, tying him with Paul Kariya for the top spot in franchise history.

“Every time I get a power play, my eyes light up,” Selanne said. “Obviously, you’re going to have a good chance. You know that.”

From there, the Ducks played with grit. They leaned on five defensemen when Kent Huskins got a game misconduct along with Colorado’s Ben Guite for starting a fight after one between Getzlaf and Cody McLeod broke up.

“I think that shows the character in this room,” Pronger said. “We want to win for one another.”

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eric.stephens@latimes.com