Recap: Montour Scores Twice to Lift Ducks to 3-0 Victory vs. Vancouver

ANAHEIM -- On a night when the Ducks desperately needed a win to keep pace in the Western Conference playoff race, they stepped up and delivered.
Brandon Montour ended a lengthy scoring drought with his first career multi-goal game and veteran forward Jason Chimera added an insurance goal to give the Ducks a 3-0 victory over the Vancouver Canucks at Honda Center on Wednesday. Not only did it snap the Ducks' three-game losing streak, it pulled them into a tie with the LA Kings for third place in the Pacific Division and the Colorado Avalanche for the second wild card spot. With the win, the Ducks improved to 35-24-12 (82 points).

"It was just one of those things," Montour said, of his goal drought. "It is what it is. Shots were still there. Just wasn't going in. It was nice to get a few tonight, for sure."
Montour, by the way, earned his fourth game-winning goal of the season, trailing only Mikhail Sergachev (5) and Alex Pietrangelo (5) for the most by defensemen in 2017-18.
John Gibson delivered a sparkling 32-save performance for his third shutout of the season and the 15th of his career. Gibson improved to 9-3-1 since the All-Star break and 16-6-2 in his last 24 decisions.
"We didn't have a few good ones and this time of the year you can't have those," said Gibson. "It was nice to bounce back and get a big win tonight. Hopefully we can carry that into the rest of the homestand."
The win improved Anaheim's record to 8-4-1 in its last 13 games and 16-9-3 since its bye week, along with a 21-11-4 mark since December 21. It also gave the Ducks points in 10 of the last 11 games at home (8-1-2).
As for the Canucks, the loss marked their third consecutive shutout defeat. Vancouver fell to 25-37-9 on the season (59 points), two points ahead of last-place Arizona. Jacob Markstrom stopped 34-of-37 shots.
With two crucial points on the line, the Ducks didn't waste any time getting on the board. After holding the zone and sending the puck down low to Chimera along the near boards, Montour crept into the high slot and sent a shot over Markstrom's shoulder at the 2:26 mark of the opening frame for his first of two goals in the game. It was a long time coming for the two-way defenseman, who last scored on November 19 vs. Florida - a span of 50 games. Earning the lone assist was Chimera, giving the veteran his first point with the Ducks.

Anaheim nearly doubled its lead early in the second period when Montour fired a shot-pass to Nick Ritchie, who found space all alone in front of Markstrom. With the netminder sprawling, it appeared as if Ritchie had a gaping net to jam home the puck, but he opted for the backhand allowing Markstrom to scramble for the save.
Minutes after Rickard Rakell was denied on a breakaway, Chimera put the Ducks up, 2-0, on a one-timer blast from the left dot that beat Markstrom shortside. The play started when Chimera's linemate, Chris Kelly, hounded Canucks forward Nic Dowd for a loose puck. After outmuscling Dowd, Kelly gained possession of the puck in the corner and sent a pass to the back-to-back 20-goal scorer for his first goal as a Duck and second point of the game.

"They are veteran guys that understand their role and the situation they are in here," head coach Randy Carlyle said, on the club's fourth line. "They put pressure on the puck and weren't a liability defensively. That's the key, that they can play 200 feet away from their net more often than they play closer to the net and that's always a plus for a fourth line."
Montour added a power-play goal late in the third period to put the game away, a goal-mouth tally that gave him his first career multi-goal game.

Anaheim's four-game homestand continues Friday against the Detroit Red Wings.