Ducks rally for OT win in Denver

In Denver, the Colorado Avalanche could not hold onto a two-goal lead late in the game Saturday night.

The Anaheim Ducks, who had lost nine straight games, rallied with two goals in the third period to force an extra session.

Ryan Getzlaf nailed his third goal of the season in overtime to give the Ducks a 5-4 win.

“Overall, the relief in our locker room is good,” Getzlaf said. “It takes a little tension off. We’ve been battling. The last five, six games we’ve played pretty good hockey. Just coming close was getting really old. It was good for our group to respond that way.”

The winner came off the power play.

Kevin Shattenkirk forced extra time with his goal of the season.

Ryan Miller made 29 saves to get the win. It was his 389th career win, good for 14th on the NHL list.

“I appreciate it,” Miller said. “I’d like to have the trophies he’s got. It meant a lot for me to carve out my own place for the Sabres and carve out my own place in the League. I’m happy I’ve been able to play hockey at a high level with a lot of solid players around me where I can have a night like tonight. To think I’ve done it 389 times at this level, that I’ve been able to go into the locker room with a satisfied feeling, I feel very fortunate for that. Goaltenders, when you get a win you get to share it with all the guys.”

Mikko Rantanen scored twice for the Avs, but was off the ice on a penalty for the losing goal.

“We did a real nice job the second half of the game,” Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said. “Guys dug in, did a lot of good things. Guys are playing in different roles and it took us a while to find our chemistry. New lines and all that. To be fair, we were getting outworked and outskated early in the game, especially in the first period. It was really sloppy. I don’t know how much outworked, but their puck movement was better than ours.”

Logan O’Connor and Brandon Saad also scored for the Avs.

Troy Terry scored twice for the Ducks in regulation.

“You feel good to be rewarded,” Anaheim head coach Dallas Eakins said. “Our group should have been rewarded more through the last couple of weeks. It didn’t happen, and I’m just so impressed with our guys. They weren’t playing the poor-me card or [saying] the sky is falling. They kept engaged in every game. To be able to stick with it and finally get on the right side of one is a good feeling and shows resiliency pays.”

Rickard Rakell added a single marker for Anaheim.