Pro Sports

O'Connor's late goal lifts Avs over Ducks 4-2

Posted January 02, 2022 6:00 am

By MICHAEL KELLY

Colorado Avalanche goaltender Darcy Kuemper, front, clears the puck after stopping a shot against the Anaheim Ducks in the second period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) The Associated Press

DENVER (AP) - Logan O'Connor scored a tiebreaking goal late in the third period and the Colorado Avalanche rallied from two goals down past the Anaheim Ducks 4-2 on Sunday.

Mikko Rantanen had a goal and two assists and Darcy Kuemper had 29 saves for the Avalanche, who were playing their first game in nearly three weeks.

Colorado had not played since a 5-2 loss at Nashville on Dec. 16 due to COVID-19 cases on the team. Eleven players tested positive for the virus since beating the New York Rangers on Dec. 14, with players returning from health and safety protocols in the past week.

'œJust getting our legs under us,'ť Nathan MacKinnon said. 'œI don't think anyone felt amazing tonight. Physicality, lungs, legs, whatever, it was a grind for sure, but we got it done.'ť

Anaheim, which was playing its third game after having three postponed, grabbed a 2-0 lead on goals by Sam Carrick in the first and Cam Fowler in the second.

Fowler missed Friday's loss at Vegas with an upper-body injury suffered against Vancouver on Wednesday but was able to suit up Sunday. It wasn't enough to avoid a fourth straight loss for the Ducks.

'œI don't think the guys felt like they brought everything they could in the Vegas game and (Sunday) we wanted to come in with a strong mindset,'ť Fowler said. 'œThe compete level was there today, but that's only going to take you so far. We've got to find ways to win these hockey games and earn a better fate. We expect better than just hanging around and being close.'ť

Josh Gibson made 32 saves and kept Colorado off the board until Devon Toews scored midway through the second period. Gabriel Landeskog tied it early in the third with his 10th of the season.

O'Connor broke the tie when he and MacKinnon came into the zone on an odd-man rush. MacKinnon passed it to O'Connor, who went to one knee to beat Gibson at 18:49. It was his sixth goal of the season.

'œOnce I saw the (defenseman) slide, Nate being on his forehand, I saw he could slide it across,'ť O'Connor said. 'œHe made a real good play, got some good air on it. Great pass, great awareness.'ť

Gibson went off for an extra skater with a minute left, and Rantanen scored into the empty net, his team-leading 15th goal of the season.

'œIt's one of those nights, we can sit and talk about how good we played for 58 minutes, but we lost the game,'ť Anaheim coach Dallas Eakins said. 'œIt doesn't feel very good.'ť

MORE COVID ISSUES

Anaheim captain Ryan Getzlaf entered the NHL health and safety protocols before the game while forward Maxime Comtois returned to the lineup from protocols.

Comtois missed the last two games while in protocols.

Eakins said he wasn't sure if Getzlaf will have to stay in Denver.

'œWe're looking into what options are available. They're fairly limited,'ť he said.

NOTES: Avalanche F Valeri Nichushkin (upper body) was scratched with an injury but is not expected to miss much time. Defenseman Ryan Murray (upper body) missed his 10th straight game. ... Ducks C Trevor Zagras, who was not in the lineup Sunday, was named the NHL rookie of the month for December. ... MacKinnon had three assists to extend his points streak to 10 games.

UP NEXT

Ducks: Host Philadelphia on Tuesday night.

Avalanche: At Chicago on Tuesday night.

___

More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Anaheim Ducks goaltender John Gibson stops a shot by the Colorado Avalanche in the first period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) The Associated Press

Colorado Avalanche goaltender Darcy Kuemper, left, clears the puck after stopping a redirected shot off the stick of Anaheim Ducks left wing Max Comtois in the second period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) The Associated Press

Colorado Avalanche left wing Gabriel Landeskog, left, directs the puck pasrt Anaheim Ducks defenseman Josh Manson, center, as goaltender John Gibson stops the shot in the first period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) The Associated Press

Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon, front left, drives with the puck as Anaheim Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler drops back to cover in the first period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) The Associated Press

Colorado Avalanche left wing J.T. Compher, center, shoots against Anaheim Ducks goaltender John Gibson, right, as Ducks defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk covers in the first period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) The Associated Press

Colorado Avalanche right wing Logan O'Connor, center, is congratulated after scoring the go-ahead goal by defenseman Cale Makar, left, and center Nathan MacKinnon in the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Anaheim Ducks Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022, in Denver. The Avalanche won 4-2. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) The Associated Press

Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon, center, drives past Anaheim Ducks defenseman Jamie Drysdale, left, to put a shot on goaltender John Gibson in the third period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022, in Denver. The Avalanche won 4-2. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) The Associated Press

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