Rakell leads Ducks past Leafs
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Rickard Rakell scored two goals and Jonathan Bernier made 37 saves as the Anaheim Ducks defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2 on Friday.
Anaheim (33-21-10) won its first game coming off their bye week and pulled into a tie with the Edmonton Oilers for second place in the Pacific Division, both teams have 76 points with 18 games remaining on the schedule. Sami Vatanen registered a goal and an assist and Ryan Getzlaf added two assists.
Toronto (28-22-14) lost its fifth straight game, including all three games played against California teams. They trail the New York Islanders for the second wildcard in the Eastern conference by one point with New York holding a game in hand. Nazem Kadri and Zach Hyman scored goals for Toronto. Curtis McIlhenny made 31 saves.
The Ducks took a 1-0 lead on Rakell's 25th goal of the season at 10:40 of the first period. Rakell finished a two-on-one rush by one-timing a feed from Chris Wagner after Wagner shrugged off a check by Toronto defenseman Alexey Marchekno on the right-wing boards.
The Maple Leafs tied the score at 1 on Zach Hyman's ninth goal of the season at 16:15 of the first period. Hyman deflected a shot from the point by Nikita Zaitsev, with William Nylander drawing the secondary assist. The goal was ruled good after a video challenge by the Ducks claiming the play was offside.
Toronto took a 2-1 on Kadri's 26th goal on the power play at 5:53 of the second period. Kadri backhanded a rebound of an attempt of a Tyler Bozak shot with Mitchell Marner drawing the secondary assist.
The Ducks scored two goals in 16 seconds to retake the lead at 3-2.
Jakob Silfverberg knotted the score with his 18th goal of the season at 9:41 on a top-shelf backhand shot and then Rickard Rakell followed with his second goal of the game, his 26th of the season, at 9:57 of the second, converting a rebound of a Hampus Lindholm shot from the left point.
The Ducks extended to a 4-2 advantage on Sami Vatanen's third goal of the season at 1:19 of the third period. Ryan Getzlaf controlled a rebound of Patrick Eaves shot and his cross-ice feed found Vatanen alone for a one-timer.
Patrick Eaves added an empty net goal, his 22nd of the season and first as a Duck at 18:46 of the third period to close out the scoring.
NOTES: Toronto scratched RW Ben Smith, C Eric Fehr, LW Josh Leivo and D Martin Marincin. ... The Leafs return home Tuesday to face the Detroit Red Wings starting a brief two game home stand. Toronto dropped to 9-10-7 against the Western Conference this season. ... The Ducks did not dress D Korbinian Holzer, RW Jared Boll, G John Gibson and C Antoine Vermette. Vermette continues to serve a 10-game suspension. ... Anaheim made four transactions during their bye week. On Wednesday, they acquired C Sam Carrick and LW Spencer Abbott from Chicago in exchange for LW Kenton Helgesen and a seventh-round selection in the 2019 draft and C Chris Wagner was recalled from San Diego (AHL). D Brandon Montour was recalled from San Diego yesterday, Montour has been a regular in the Ducks lineup and the organization wanted to keep him active during the break. ... RW Logan Shaw was inked to a one year extension for a reported $650,000.