Ducks rally past Avalanche in OT, end nine-game skid

DENVER -- Ryan Getzlaf scored a power-play goal at 1:59 of overtime, and the Anaheim Ducks rallied for their first win in 10 games, 5-4 against the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena on Saturday.

"Overall, the relief in our locker room is good," said Getzlaf, the Ducks captain, who tipped in a Rickard Rakell shot with Mikko Rantanen serving a tripping penalty. "It takes a little tension off. We've been battling. The last five, six games we've played pretty good hockey. Just coming close was getting really old. It was good for our group to respond that way."

Troy Terry scored two goals, Rakell had a goal and two assists, and Kevin Shattenkirk scored for Anaheim (7-12-6), which was 0-6-3 in its previous nine. Ryan Miller made 29 saves for his 389th NHL win, tying Dominik Hasek for 14th in history.
"I appreciate it," said Miller, who played his first 11 seasons (2002-14) for the Buffalo Sabres after Hasek played nine seasons (1992-2001) for them. "I'd like to have the trophies he's got. It meant a lot for me to carve out my own place for the Sabres and carve out my own place in the League. I'm happy I've been able to play hockey at a high level with a lot of solid players around me where I can have a night like tonight. To think I've done it 389 times at this level, that I've been able to go into the locker room with a satisfied feeling, I feel very fortunate for that. Goaltenders, when you get a win you get to share it with all the guys."

Rantanen scored two goals, Samuel Girard and Nazem Kadri each had two assists, and Hunter Miska made 22 saves for Colorado (13-7-2), which is 4-1-1 in its past six.
"We did a real nice job the second half of the game," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said after Colorado was without injured centers Nathan MacKinnon (head) and J.T. Compher (upper body). "Guys dug in, did a lot of good things. Guys are playing in different roles and it took us a while to find our chemistry. New lines and all that. To be fair, we were getting outworked and outskated early in the game, especially in the first period. It was really sloppy. I don't know how much outworked, but their puck movement was better than ours."
Bednar said MacKinnon, who missed his second straight game, will be on the ice Sunday. The Avalanche next play Monday at home against the Arizona Coyotes.
"He seems to be progressing and feeling better," Bednar said.
Colorado broke a third-period tie with goals 24 seconds apart from Rantanen and Brandon Saad. Rantanen scored from the point at 6:03 for a 3-2 lead, and Saad made it 4-2 at 6:27 when he redirected Andre Burakovsky's pass from the right corner.
The Ducks got within 4-3 at 13:03 on Terry's shot from above the left face-off circle and tied it 4-4 on the power play at 17:10 on Shattenkirk's shot from the point.
"You feel good to be rewarded," Anaheim coach Dallas Eakins said. "Our group should have been rewarded more through the last couple of weeks. It didn't happen, and I'm just so impressed with our guys. They weren't playing the poor-me card or [saying] the sky is falling. They kept engaged in every game. To be able to stick with it and finally get on the right side of one is a good feeling and shows resiliency pays."
Miska allowed two goals on seven shots in the third.
"I thought he was having a decent game, but when the heat got turned up and we needed a save, we didn't get it," Bednar said.

Rakell gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead at 5:10 of the first period off Sam Steel's face-off win in the right circle. Terry made it 2-0 at 4:26 of the second period when he deked Miska and put a backhand inside the left post.
Logan O'Connor cut it to 2-1 at 12:06 when Valeri Nichushkin sent him in on a breakaway.
Rantanen tied it 2-2 on the power play at 17:36. Girard's point shot went off the end boards, and Rantanen banked the puck in off Miller from behind the net.
NOTES: Ducks forward Max Jones left at 5:00 of the first period after getting hit in the face by teammate Jakob Silfverberg's shot. … Rakell has nine points (three goals, six assists) during a five-game point streak. … Girard scored his 100th NHL point with his first assist, on Rantanen's first goal. It was the defenseman's 245th NHL game. … The Avalanche placed defenseman Erik Johnson on long-term injured reserve. He sustained an upper-body injury Jan. 30 against the Minnesota Wild.