Avs top Ducks to keep PO hopes alive
The official game recap Anaheim Ducks vs Colorado Avalanche.Matt Duchene scored on a breakaway at 9:08 of the third period to help the Colorado Avalanche stave off elimination from the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 4-2 win against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on Friday.
Duchene slipped the puck five-hole on Ducks goalie John Gibson with defenseman Sami Vatanen closing in after the puck had bounced to center ice off a blocked shot. The game-winner was Duchene's 21st goal.
Goalie Reto Berra made 35 saves and foiled Ryan Kesler twice on high-quality chances from the slot.
The Avalanche (36-30-12), who would have been eliminated with a regulation loss, got an empty-net goal from Dennis Everberg with 1:24 left. They are six points behind the Los Angeles Kings and Winnipeg Jets in the race for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference.
The Ducks (50-23-7), who rested captain Ryan Getzlaf, gave the Avalanche three power plays in the second period, and Colorado's 29th-ranked man-advantage unit broke through with Gabriel Landeskog's 23rd goal to tie it 2-2.
Landeskog buried a shot high from the slot at 16:52 after Alex Tanguay collected the puck and set him up with Ducks defenseman James Wisniewski serving a holding penalty.
Jiri Sekac and Rickard Rakell scored in the first period for Anaheim.
Sekac grabbed a Tanguay turnover in neutral ice, skated past Avalanche forward Marc-Andre Cliche and beat Berra with a quick backhand at 7:31. Corey Perry misdirected Berra from behind the net and flubbed a pass that Rakell scored on from the right side at 17:58.
John Mitchell scored for Colorado on a one-timer from Jarome Iginla on a rush at 6:33 of the first to give the Avalanche a 1-0 lead.
Anaheim right wing Stefan Noesen made his NHL debut. He drew a holding penalty against Iginla and nearly scored from the slot in the third.
-- by Curtis Zupke for NHL.com --
Eurolanche.com, Worldwide, eurolanche@eurolanche.com
04/04/2015 - 07:00
