Ducks blank Blackhawks, end 7-game losing streak

ANAHEIM -- Lukas Dostal made 29 saves in his first NHL shutout, and the Anaheim Ducks ended a seven-game losing streak with a 4-0 win against the Chicago Blackhawks at Honda Center on Thursday.

Alex Killorn scored two goals, and Brett Leason had a goal and an assist for the Ducks (24-43-3), who scored more than two goals for the first time in 10 games and got their first shutout of the season.

"This was a huge game for us," Killorn said. "We had some meetings, and we wanted to get off the slide, so it was a great response."

Arvid Soderblom made 21 saves for the Blackhawks (19-46-5), who had won three of five, including a 7-2 victory against the Ducks on March 12.

"Our back end didn't move the puck as cleanly as we wanted, but also the forwards weren't in position and weren't clicking as a unit," Chicago coach Luke Richardson said. "We just weren't connected."

After a goalless first period in which Anaheim was outshot 13-7, the Ducks scored three times in the second to take a 3-0 lead.

Killorn gave Anaheim a 1-0 lead at 3:10 when he tipped in a shot from defenseman Gustav Lindstrom.

"As the game went on, I thought we got more confident, and then we got that first goal," Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. "You could feel a lot of weight lifted off the bench."

Leason made it 2-0 at 9:34 with a wrist shot from the top of the right face-off circle after entering the Chicago zone with speed.

"A lot of passes were either hitting our tape and going off, or they weren't flat, or we weren't supporting each other," Chicago defenseman Jaycob Megna said. "We just seemed too spread out and just not connected enough."

Killorn extended the lead to 3-0 at 18:26 with his second of the game, on a wrist shot from the right circle.

Killorn has seven goals in the past 12 games after scoring seven in his first 39.

"Typically, over a season, it kind of evens itself out," Killorn said. "I just want to continue to do that for the rest of the season."

Frank Vatrano scored his 30th goal of the season during a 5-on-3 power play at 10:31 of the third period for the 4-0 final. It was his first goal in 10 games.

"He's been sitting on 29 for a little bit, so just nice for him to get that and not have to worry about that anymore," Killorn said.

Ducks rookie forward Leo Carlsson was helped off ice and left the game at 15:46 of the second period after making knee-to-knee contact with Chicago defenseman Alex Vlasic. There was no update on him.

Carlsson, the No. 2 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, was playing his third game since missing eight with an upper-body injury. He also missed 10 games from Dec. 23-Jan. 15 with a knee injury and the first two games of the season with a lower-body injury sustained in training camp.

"It's unfortunate, this one, he just caught knees," Cronin said. "He's taken some other tumbles too that haven't resulted in injuries. As he matures and he physically develops some thickness, he 'll be able to skate through these injuries."

NOTES: Dostal became the third rookie to have a shutout for the Ducks, joining teammate John Gibson (six times) and Ilya Bryzgalov (once). ... Leason has scored three of his 11 goals this season against Chicago. ... Anaheim forward Ben Meyers assisted on Leason's goal for his first point with the Ducks. He played his sixth game since being traded from the Colorado Avalanche on March 8. ... Anaheim defenseman Pavel Mintyukov, who also assisted on Leason's goal, is fourth among NHL rookies in assists (24). ... Vatrano is the second Ducks player to score at least 30 goals in the past six seasons, joining Troy Terry, who scored 37 in 2021-22. … Chicago has been shut out 11 times this season, the most in the NHL since the Minnesota Wild (11) in 2018-19. ... Blackhawks forward Colin Blackwell missed the game with an upper-body injury sustained in a 6-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday. ... Chicago was 10-1-1 in its previous 12 games against Anaheim.