ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Jakob Silfverberg and Rickard Rakell scored and the Anaheim Ducks held on for a 3-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday night.
Hampus Lindholm added an empty-net goal for the Ducks, who had not scored more than two goals in their first five games. John Gibson made 32 saves and improved to 2-0-2 in his last four starts.
Mikko Rantanen scored in a career-best fifth straight game, and Philipp Grubauer made 12 saves for the Avalanche. Colorado had been averaging 3.4 goals.
The Ducks jumped out to a lead in the first 58 seconds. Silfverberg scored his first goal on a wrist shot through traffic off a faceoff win by Adam Henrique, giving Anaheim its first lead in the first period this season.
Rakell make it 2-0 at 9:05 of the second, beating Grubauer to the glove side off a centering pass from Ryan Getzlaf.
Rantanen broke through at 14:46 of the third, scoring on a rebound. Lindholm scored with 1:40 remaining.
Rantanen has five goals and two assists in his last five games.
Avalanche forward Andre Burakovsky returned after missing three games because of a lower-body injury. He played 13:16 with a minus-1 rating and one shot.
MIX IT UP
J.T. Compher centered the Avalanche’s second line, while Nazem Kadri was demoted to the third line. Coach Jared Bednar had been critical of a lack of production from the Kadri-led second line throughout the four-game road trip, and his minus-2 performance in a 3-2 overtime win against the Ducks on Friday prompted Bednar to make a change. Swapping the centers wasn’t the only move Bednar made as Ryan Graves was a healthy scratch after posting a minus-5 through the first five games, the only Colorado defenseman with a negative plus-minus rating.
UP NEXT
Avalanche: Host the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night.
Ducks: Visit the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday night.
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