Ducks end losing streak at 12 with win against Wild

ST. PAUL, Minn. --The Anaheim Ducks ended a 12-game losing streak, the longest in their history, with a 3-0 win against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center on Thursday.

John Gibson made 37 saves for his second shutout of the season for the Ducks (20-19-9), who hadn't won since defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins on Dec. 17 (0-8-4).
"It's been a long time coming, that's for sure," Gibson said. "It's nice. I think tonight we all just had enough of losing and we came out and played the way we had to play and do what we had to do."
WATCH: [All Ducks vs. Wild highlights]
It was the fourth time the Wild (23-21-3) have been shut out this season. Alex Stalock was pulled in the first period after allowing three goals on eight shots. He was replaced by Devan Dubnyk, who made 15 saves.
"We're not scoring enough. At the end of the day that's what it comes down to," Wild forward Zach Parise said. "We're just not scoring enough goals. That's been tough for us this year."

Adam Henrique gave Anaheim a 1-0 lead at 3:57 of the first period, scoring blocker side from the right circle.
Rickard Rakell scored 11 seconds later to make it 2-0 in the slot after Devin Shore had the puck poked away by Stalock.
Brian Gibbons redirected Andy Welinski's point shot five-hole to extend the lead to 3-0 at 7:58.
JT Brown nearly cut it to 3-1 at 3:25 of the second period, but a video review confirmed the call on the ice that the puck never fully crossed the goal line.
"I thought it was pretty close," Gibson said. "I didn't really know, but you watch enough of our games and I was thinking in my mind when they went to review it that we deserve a break. Honest. We've had some bad bounces go our way and to get out of this (losing streak), we needed a break and I thought that was a good break tonight.
"It's only one game, but we got to make sure that we don't take a step back from what we did tonight and carry it into the next one and finish this road trip out on a good note."

They said it

"It's relief for everybody, more so for our players because when you go through these situations and the amount of frustration, the amount of passion that they play with and not get rewarded for such a long period of time, and then the nervousness goes in when you have a 3-0 lead, are you going to allow the opposition back in it? All those things are playing on their minds. It's a huge relief and you hope you can turn the corner on something and start to play a consistent brand of hockey that gives us a chance to win." -- Ducks coach Randy Carlyle
"Over the last three or four games we're playing teams that are bottom in the League, and a team coming in on a 12-game losing streak. We get one shootout win out of it (3-2 against Los Angeles Kings). It's just not good enough." -- Wild forward Zach Parise

Need to know

Rakell has four points (three goals, one assist) during a four-game point streak. … Ducks defenseman Brandon Montour had two assists. … Derek Grant, who was acquired by Anaheim in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins for Joseph Blandisi earlier Wednesday, had one shot in 16:21 of ice time. … Ducks forward Max Jones had one shot in 12:22 of ice time in his NHL debut. … Parise had an NHL career-high 11 shots, tying Brian Rolston (Oct. 27, 2006 against Anaheim) for most in Wild history. … Pontus Aberg, who was acquired by the Wild in a trade with the Ducks for Justin Kloos on Wednesday, was minus-1 with two shots and three hits in 15:18 of ice time.

What's next

Ducks:At the New Jersey Devils on Saturday (1 p.m. ET; SN, MSG+, PRIME, NHL.TV)
Wild:Host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday (9 p.m. ET; FS-N, FS-O, NHL.TV)