Ducks defeat Devils on late goal by Ryan Kesler

Center Ryan Kesler scored with 3:40 remaining in the third period to give the Anaheim Ducks a 3-2 win against the New Jersey Devils at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., on Thursday.
Kesler took a pass in the slot from forward Jakob Silfverberg and fought off a check from Devils forward Travis Zajac before backhanding a shot past Cory Schneider.
The line of Kesler centering left wing Andrew Cogliano and Silfverberg combined for two goals, four points, eight shots on goal and a plus-6 rating.

WATCH: All Devils vs. Ducks highlights
"We started slow again this year but we keep getting better, and that's all we have to continue to do," Kesler told the Ducks website.
Rickard Rakell and Silfverberg scored and Jonathan Bernier made 27 saves, including 12 in the third period, for the Ducks (9-6-3). Anaheim won for the first time this season after allowing the first goal of the game (1-5-3). Kesler has seven goals and 10 points in nine games in November.
Devante Smith-Pelly and Kyle Quincey scored and Schneider made 20 saves for the Devils (9-4-3), who had their five-game winning streak end.
The Devils went 0-for-3 on the power play and are 0-for-24 in the past seven games.

"There are parts of [the power play] that are really good but it's not consistent enough," Devils coach John Hynes told MSG Network. "You can say you hope one goes in, but we're not in a hope business. We have to be more consistent in certain areas."
The Devils were without forwards Taylor Hall (left knee surgery) and Michael Cammalleri (personal reasons).
"[Hall and Cammalleri] are a big part of our team, but the guys we had on the ice can score and are good players," Hynes said. "After we went up 2-0 we got a little bit soft. We could have been harder on the puck in certain areas."
The Devils and Ducks each scored two goals in the second period following a scoreless first.
Smith-Pelly and Quincey scored in a span of 3:37 to give the Devils a 2-0 lead. Smith-Pelly scored his first goal in six games when he redirected from the slot a shot from the point by Quincey at 10:32. Quincey scored when his slap shot from the center point beat Bernier over his right shoulder at 14:09.
The Ducks tied the game in a span of 16 seconds late in the second. Rakell scored his fifth off a pass from Ryan Getzlaf at 17:24, and Silfverberg got his sixth at 17:40.

Goal of the game

Kesler capped the comeback with his sixth goal in the past six games. He also finished 21-of-31 on faceoffs.

Save of the game

With 7:42 remaining in the third, Bernier made a right-pad save off a deflection by Reid Boucher from the slot to keep the game tied, 2-2.

Highlight of the game

Anaheim's two goals in 16 seconds. Rakell scored off a snap shot from the slot that hit Schneider before trickling over the goal line, and Silfverberg scored off a slap shot from the right circle that beat Schneider to the long side.
"I think the tipping point in the game started in those last three minutes of the second," Kesler said. "We had a couple of big goals and that changed the momentum of the game."

Unsung moment of the game

Ducks defenseman Korbinian Holzer, who was a late replacement for Clayton Stoner (lower body), made a great pinch at the left point that led to the Silfverberg goal. Holzer knocked the puck to Cogliano, who fed Silfverberg.

They said it

"I think when you have two goalies [including John Gibson] playing well, you're pushing each other. You want to get the net as much as possible, so obviously you have to make those saves at the right time, and I think it's a healthy competition." -- Ducks goaltender Jonathan Bernier
"It's tough to not get the result because that's what we're here for, to get points. The way we played [Thursday], we should have at least gotten one point, but it happens and we can't be discouraged. When they scored those two goals late in the second, we didn't wilt. We came out and played a really good third period, so it's tough right now, but if we keep playing this way, we'll be rewarded more often." -- Devils goaltender Cory Schneider

Need to know

Ducks rookie forward Joseph Cramarossa left the game in the first after an apparent lower-body injury following a collision with Rakell in the Anaheim zone with 5:13 left. … Devils defensemen have scored six of the past 10 goals over the past four games.

What's next

Devils: At the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday (4 p.m. ET; FS-W, MSG+, NHL.TV)
Ducks: Home against the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday (8 p.m. ET; FS-W, PRIME, NHL.TV)