In Anaheim, the Ducks put on a show and defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday, 5-1.
Derek Grant struck twice for the Ducks.
“I think we played hard as a group for 60 minutes,” Grant said. “It was a team effort. We’ve had a lot of adversity lately with guys in and out, and now coaches in and out. We needed everybody tonight and we got it.”
The win snapped a four-game skid.
The Lightning were 0-for-7 on the power play.
“Our group will bounce back,” the Lightning’s Steven Stamkos said. “They usually do after an effort like this.”
Grand and Kevin Shattenkirk gave the Ducks a 2-0 lead in the first period.
“The problem was how we started,” Stamkos said. “We were a step behind.”
John Gibson made 32 saves in the Anaheim win.
“He was terrific,” Grant said of Gibson. “It’s the reason he’s an All-Star, and he’s a huge part of our team. Guys played hard in front of him and tried to limit second and third chances because he’s usually going to stop that first one.”
Ross Colton was the lone goal scorer for the Bolts.
“We gave ourselves a chance, but the hole we dug was too deep,” Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper said. “In this league, when you fall behind like that, it can be tough to come back.”
The Lightning dropped to 27-10-5.
Grant and Vinni Lettieri pushed the lead to 4-0, before Colton got the Bolts on the board.
Nicolas Deslauriers scored into an empty net with less than eight minutes left in the game.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 30 saves in the Tampa loss.
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