Ducks end the give and take, down Blue Jackets with three late goals, 7-4 Harrington hits double against former mates in win

For most of Friday night night in Anaheim, the Ducks and visiting Columbus Blue Jackets traded goals fro a 4-4 tie into the early minutes of the third period.Max Jones ended the give and take with an unassisted, breakaway goal at 17:23 to give the Ducks a 5-4 lead.

Jones picked up the puck in the Anaheim defensive zone after it ticked off his stick from an attempted Columbus pass.

“I was going to shoot, but when I was coming down I saw [goalie Michael Hutchinson] angle was a little off, so I figured I’d go with the backhand,” Jones said.

Anaheim scored twice into empty nets with Scott Harrington scoring with 48 seconds left, and Ryan Strome scoring 15 seconds later for the 7-4 final.

Lukas Dostal made 38 saves in the Anaheim win.

The Ducks improved to 23-36-10, Anaheim is 6-2-3 in their last `11 matches.

Anaheim took an early 1-0 lead on a goal from Trevor Zegras, Columbus tied it, 1-1, on a strike from Nick Blankenburg at 10:57.

“I saw [Liam Foudy] covering for me, so I was ready to go back and switch spots with him, and then he had the puck so I thought I’d stay there for a second,” Blankenburg said. “Good heads-up play by him, so just happy it went in.”

In the give and take, Harrington gave the Ducks a 2-1 lead at 14:37, but Boone Jenner knotted it for the Blue Jackets with 31 seconds left in the stanza.

“It always feels good to score, it feels good to score the first goal with a new team,” said Harrington. “It certainly doesn’t hurt that it’s against the old team.”

Columbus dropped to 21-40-7, with the loss the Blue Jackets were officially eliminated from the playoffs.

The middle frame was no different with the Ducks taking a 3-2 lead on a strike form Max Comtois.

Columbus’ Sillinger tied it 3-3 with his first goal since November, the strike came on the power play.

“We’re just having that shooting mentality and, obviously, we’re finding some seams and then making some plays,” Sillinger said. “That’s what the power play is all about, is keeping it simple to an extent, but using your skill and your hockey instincts. Ever since the All-Star break, we’re in the top half of the League [on the power play], which is good, it gives us some momentum.”

Patrik Laine flipped the script with the Blue Jackets taking a 4-3 lead in the early third period on the power play.

Hutchinson made 31 saves in the loss.