In Anaheim Wednesday, a four-goal second period seemed like a nice effort from the Ducks and one that would provide comfort as they matched up with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
It nearly was not even close to enough as the Pens charged back in the third period to cut a 4-1 deficit to 4-3 before Hampus Lindholm scored into an empty net with one second left in regulation.
Ondrej Kase, Rickard Rakell, Adam Henrique, and Chris Wagner (shorthanded) scored for the Ducks in a dominating middle frame.
“They take chances and they play run-and-gun, so you’re going to get your chances,” Wagner said. “Tonight, we buried a good amount of them.”
Evgeni Malkin, staked the Pens to a 1-0 first period lead with his 20th of the campaign.
Phil Kessel and Jake Guentzel rallied the Pens in the third period to make for anxious closing minutes for the Ducks’ faithful.
“We knew they were hot coming in, and we had to play our best game,” Wagner said. “We didn’t play a full 60 [minutes], but we came pretty close.”
John Gibson made 30 saves to pick up the win.
The Ducks improved to 21-16-9 with the win.
“I thought we did a good job sticking with it. We had some big plays. Couple big saves, blocked shots and clears. That’s a huge win for our team,” Henrique after the tense win.
[WATCH: All Penguins vs. Ducks highlights]
Tristan Jarry made 28 saves in taking the loss.
“It was a little bit up-and-down, back-and-forth,” Jarry said. “Those are fun games to play in as a player, when there are lots of chances. You just have to bear down and do the best you can.”
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