Ducks win on late goal by Nick Ritchie

ANAHEIM -- Nick Ritchie scored with 2:02 remaining to give the Anaheim Ducks a 2-1 victory against the Colorado Avalanche at Honda Center on Thursday.
Ritchie scored his 11th of the season, beating Avalanche goalie Calvin Pickard with a shot from the slot after the Ducks' Ondrej Kase took advantage of Avalanche defenseman Nikita Zadorov's turnover in his own zone.

WATCH: All Avalanche vs. Ducks highlights
"It was kind of a broken play," Ritchie said. "Kase made a good pass. I was just in the slot and shot it through a bunch of guys."
Gabriel Landeskog gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead on the power play at 14:04 of the second period, pouncing on a loose puck that wasn't cleared.
The Ducks tied it on the power play at 7:17 of the third on defenseman Hampus Lindholm's third of the season.
The Ducks (26-13-9) have points in 13 of their past 14 games, going 9-1-4. Their last loss in regulation was against the Minnesota Wild on Jan. 8.
Pickard made 34 saves for Colorado (13-29-1), including 22 in the first period.
"The whole first period he kept us scoreless," Landeskog said. "The second period we dominated and took over the game, and the third, it is what it is. [Pickard] played great. He played unbelievable and gave us a chance to win."

The game was delayed for about 45 minutes when a shot from Colorado defenseman Eric Gelinas broke the glass behind the Ducks net with 9:48 remaining in the second period.
Arena workers scrambled to find another panel of glass, eventually emerging with one but it had to be cut to make it fit to accommodate the camera behind the net.
Lindholm could not remember a delay that long, at any level, growing up and playing in his native Sweden. He said, joking: "I don't think they shoot that hard in Sweden."
The teams were sent to their dressing rooms for the second intermission during the delay. Officials had them play the remaining time of the period, followed by a dry scrape of the ice and then the third period.
"I think it was a real bonus for our group that we got to get a break," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. "Definitely the game was going in their favor, all the momentum was going in their direction.
"It's hard when you've got a break like that. Those are the things that happen in sports and you just move on from it."

Goal of the game

Lindholm finally solved Pickard with a blast from the left point, a play created by a deft pass from Rickard Rakell.

Save of the game

Ducks defenseman Sami Vatanen prevented an almost certain goal by Jarome Iginla when he got his stick in the way in the closing seconds.

Highlight of the game

The chemistry between Ritchie and Kase that resulted in the winning goal after they started the game on different lines.

Unsung performance of the game

The Ducks had a season-high for shots in the first period but Pickard stopped them all.

They said it

"It was a long break and a different third period. Other than that I thought it was pretty funny. Most of us did. We didn't take it too seriously. I'm sure the crew was doing their best to fix the glass." -- Avalanche forward Gabriel Landeskog
"Of course it's a little weird. But we're all professional in here, so we know how to keep our bodies in shape to get out there. We're just really thankful for the fans to keep in the game and not leaving and cheering us on there." --Ducks defenseman Hampus Lindholm

Need to know

The Ducks played most of the third period without one of their most effective forwards, Jakob Silfverberg. Carlyle said Silfverberg sustained an upper-body injury and was being evaluated. … Colorado was without defenseman Tyson Barrie (lower-body injury), who is considered day to day. Also, forward Rene Bourque was limited to five shifts and 3:31 of ice time and did not play after the first period. The team said he has a lower-body injury and is considered day to day.

What's next

Avalanche: At the San Jose Sharks on Saturday (10:30 p.m. ET; CSN-CA, ALT2, NHL.TV)
Ducks: At the Minnesota Wild on Saturday (9 p.m. ET; FS-N, PRIME, NHL.TV)