Recap: Ducks Reel Off Four in the First in 6-3 Victory Over Rangers

ANAHEIM - Following a lackluster loss Sunday night to San Jose, Ducks coach Randy Carlyle responded with some stern words in practice Monday, not to mention some significant lineup changes.
It appeared to light a fire under his Ducks, who came out of the gates flying with four goals in the first period on their way to a resounding 6-3 victory over the New York Rangers at Honda Center.

A struggling Corey Perry was moved to the fourth forward line while Ondrej Kase was lifted to the top unit and Jakob Silfverberg filled his slot on the third. And it was Perry who was among the four Ducks to score in a 15-minute span in the first, and the Ducks led New York 4-2 by the time the dust had settled.

J.T. Brown, Perry, Andrew Cogliano and Adam Henrique tallied for the Ducks in that whirlwind period, with Brown leading things off with his first goal as a Duck. He and Cogliano each buried wristers from the wings, while Perry and Henrique tossed in breakaway goals. Cogliano's goal, in fact, chased Rangers starter Henrik Lundqvist to the bench for backup Ondrej Pavelec.

It was the first time since the 2015-16 season that the Ducks potted four in a period, the last time coming Jan. 15, 2016 in a 4-2 defeat of the Dallas Stars at Honda Center.
"Goals have been tough to come by lately for this group," Perry said. "We found a way tonight. You get a power-play goal and a shorthanded goal. Those things are big momentum shifts in the game. When you score four goals on six or eight shots, it definitely helps."
If it wasn't for New York's Rick Nash also scoring twice within four minutes in that same period, it might have been a laugher early. But anyone familiar with these Ducks could have foreseen it wouldn't be smooth sailing to the finish.
Instead, New York got within a goal with four minutes left in the second, turning the tables on a Ducks power play when Michael Grabner scored off a breakaway following a bad Anaheim turnover.
An Anaheim power play that carried over to the third period was magnified by an early Rangers penalty, opening the gate for Rickard Rakell's team-leading 18th of the season, which he scored by tucking the puck inside the near post from behind the net.

That goal also regained some breathing room for the Ducks, who put the game away with 2:21 left when Ryan Getzlaf backhanded the puck into the empty Rangers net from near the red line to make it 6-3.

"Our power play has been working hard lately," Getzlaf said. "We gave one up and then we battled back. We responded properly. Those are always good signs for the group."
It was far from a perfect night for the Ducks, who gave up 44 shots, 41 of which were stopped by goalie John Gibson, who made a nice recovery after getting pulled in the third period of that San Jose loss.
"This is one of the few nights this year we could say we enjoyed the power plays for versus the power plays against," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. "We'll take it and move on. We know we have to better than what we were tonight. That was our message. No picture is painted perfectly. We played a very good hockey club tonight."
It was a fifth straight road defeat for the Rangers, and a nice bounceback for the Ducks, who are 9-4-1 in their last 14. They finish off their five-game homestand Thursday night vs. the Jets, which is Patrick Eaves Beard Night at Honda Center.
"It's business as usual. We talked about it as a team," said Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler. "You had to take a look in the mirror and focus on the improvements you can make individually and what more you can bring to the team. Whether you're playing first line or fourth line, first pair or third pair, you have to contribute what you do best to the hockey team. We had a lot of contributions tonight."