Bachman helps Canucks beat Ducks
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Goalie Richard Bachman stopped 43 shots to win his season debut and lead the Vancouver Canucks to a 2-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday night at the Honda Center.
Bo Horvat and Markus Granlund scored for the Canucks (28-30-7), who earned their second victory in as many nights after losing six of their previous seven games.
Patrick Eaves scored for the Ducks (33-22-10), who got 25 saves from goalie Jonathan Bernier but fell into a tie for third place in the Pacific Division -- and the first wild-card spot -- with the Calgary Flames.
Bachman kept Anaheim from taking an early lead by making two big saves within 20 seconds late in the first period.
At 13:25, Bachman blocked Ryan Kesler's wrist shot at the left post after Kesler received Jakob Silfverberg's pass from the opposite post. Twenty seconds later, Bachman caught Silfverberg's wrist shot from the slot between his knees.
Then at 14:09, Horvat's 20th goal gave the Canucks a 1-0 lead. Bernier blocked Ben Hutton's wrist shot from the blue line with his torso. But the puck trickled free and Horvat swept the puck inside the right post.
Ondrej Kase appeared to tie the score with 3:18 left in the first period, when he deposited the rebound of Patrick Eaves' slap shot inside the right post. But officials ruled that Kase kicked the puck into the net and disallowed it. Video replay upheld their call.
Vancouver defenseman Alex Biega kept the Ducks scoreless 6:20 into the second period. Anaheim's Andrew Cogliano went on a breakaway after securing a loose puck in the neutral zone but Biega leaned into Cogliano and poke-checked the puck away.
Fifteen seconds later, Granlund exploited a turnover to score his 17th goal. Granlund intercepted Kevin Bieksa's pass to start a 2-on-1 breakaway and fired a wrist shot from the right circle between Bernier's legs to give the Canucks a 2-0 lead.
Eaves ended Bachman's quest for a shutout 6:12 into the third period. The 15-year veteran received Ryan Getzlaf's cross-ice pass at the left circle and fired a rising wrist shot inside the near post. Eaves scored his second goal in as many games and his 23rd of the season.
NOTES: Vancouver scratched C Reid Boucher, D Philip Larsen and G Jacob Markstrom. ... Canucks D Alexander Edler needs six points for 300 in his career. ... Canucks D Luca Sbisa played for the Ducks from 2009-2014. ... Anaheim scratched RW Jared Boll, G John Gibson, D Korbinian Holzer and C Antoine Vermette. ... Ducks C Ryan Kesler needs two assists for 300 in his career. ... Former NHL center Todd Marchant joins the Ducks as an assistant coach for the rest of the season. Marchant, the team's director of player development, spent the final six seasons of his 18-year career with the Ducks.