Rickard Rakell scores twice, Ducks defeat Maple Leafs

ANAHEIM -- Rickard Rakell scored two goals, and Jonathan Bernier made 37 saves to lift the Anaheim Ducks to a 5-2 victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Honda Center on Friday.
Jakob Silfverberg, Sami Vatanen and Patrick Eaves scored for the Ducks (33-21-10), who are tied with the Edmonton Oilers for second in the Pacific Division, six points behind the first-place San Jose Sharks.

WATCH: All Maple Leafs vs. Ducks highlights
All five Anaheim goals came at even strength.
"We've been starved for 5-on-5 offense, so hopefully tonight is a sign we can spread the scoring," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said.
Zach Hyman and Nazem Kadri scored for Toronto (28-22-14), which lost its season-high fifth straight game and is one point behind the New York Islanders for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
"I didn't like the free goals we gave them," Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. "The NHL is too good a league to think you are going to outscore your mistakes."
Anaheim took a 3-2 lead in the second period with two goals 16 seconds apart.

Silfverberg tied the game 2-2 after backhanding his own rebound high into the net from just above the goal line at 9:41. Ryan Kesler started the play by stealing a no-look pass from Toronto forward Mitchell Marner in the Maple Leafs zone. Kesler drove toward the net and passed the puck back to Silfverberg.
Rakell won the ensuing faceoff at center ice, and Anaheim dumped the puck behind the Toronto net. Nick Ritchie brought the puck out and passed to defenseman Hampus Lindholm near the blue line. Lindholm's shot sailed past Corey Perry and Rakell before Maple Leafs goalie Curtis McElhinney made a stick save. Rakell was in position for the rebound and swiped the puck into the net at 9:57 for a 3-2 lead and his Ducks-leading 26th goal.
"He makes it look easy, but it's not that easy," Silfverberg said of Rakell. "He's been scoring big goals for us all year."
Kadri gave the Maple Leafs a 2-1 lead with a power-play goal earlier in the second period after Perry was called for his third minor penalty of the game. Bernier made a save on Tyler Bozak's shot from between the circles, but Kadri was in position to score on the rebound for his Toronto-leading 26th goal at 5:53.
Rakell put the Ducks up 1-0 at 10:40 of the first period, but Hyman scored to tie it 1-1 at 16:15.
Vatanen scored at 1:19 of the third period to give the Ducks a 4-2 lead, and Eaves scored into an empty net with 1:14 remaining to make it 5-2. It was Eaves' first goal with the Ducks since being acquired in a trade Feb. 24 from the Dallas Stars.

Goal of the game

Logan Shaw took possession in the Ducks zone at 10:32 of the first period and passed ahead to Chris Wagner, who had speed skating through the neutral zone. Maple Leafs defenseman Alexey Marchenko missed on his attempt to poke the puck away, and Wagner fought through his check before centering to Rakell coming down the middle of the slot. Rakell put the puck in the net before McElhinney could slide over.

Save of the game

With the Maple Leafs on the power play, James van Riemsdyk was positioned in front of the Ducks net when he redirected Marner's pass from the right circle toward the net, but Bernier made the right-pad save at 4:52.

Highlight of the game

One night after scoring through traffic in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Los Angeles Kings, Maple Leafs defenseman Nikita Zaitsev took a similar shot against Anaheim that went in off Hyman's right glove. The goal was upheld by video review after Carlyle challenged Toronto was offside on the play.

Unsung performance of the game

With the Ducks leading 3-2, Bernier made a save on Bozak 47 seconds into the third period, but the puck got behind him and settled in the crease. Ducks defenseman Josh Manson stepped in and cleared the puck before the Maple Leafs could get to it, and Vatanen scored 32 seconds later to put the Ducks up two goals.

They said it

"I guess we got caught with our pants down and it ended up costing us the game." -- Maple Leafs goalie Curtis McElhinney on allowing two goals in 16 seconds in the second period
"Everyone in this room knows the importance of these games. We knew we had to pick up the pace." -- Ducks forward Jakob Silfverberg

Need to know

Lindholm was plus-3 and is plus-7 over his past four games. ... Silfverberg is on a three-game point streak (one goal, two assists), matching his season high. ... Center Ryan Getzlaf had an assist on each of Anaheim's final two goals and has nine points (three goals, six assists) in the past eight games. … Shaw, 24, signed a one-year contract Friday that would keep him with the Ducks through 2017-18. He has two goals and four assists in 44 games this season, his first with Anaheim. ... Kadri has eight goals in 14 games against Pacific Division teams this season. … Toronto scored first in its previous six games.

What's next

Maple Leafs: Host the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; TVA Sports, TSN4, FS-D, NHL.TV)
Ducks: Host the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday (8 p.m. ET; SN, TVA Sports, PRIME, NHL.TV)