LDN - Sports

Kesler's late goal difference in Ducks' win vs. Devils

[November 18, 2016] ANAHEIM, Calif. -- By matching his career high for goals during November, Ryan Kesler put the Anaheim Ducks into first place in the Pacific Division on Thursday night.

Kesler scored with 3:40 to play as the Ducks rallied for a 3-2 win over the New Jersey Devils at the Honda Center.

"I don't know how many battles he won in front of the net before he put the puck in," Ducks right wingers Jakob Silfverberg said. "He's a great goal scorer. He's strong."

Kesler, known as a defensive specialist, had seven goals on the season and would finish with 36 goals if he maintains his current scoring pace. The 32-year-old veteran amassed a career-best 41 goals for the Vancouver Canucks in 2010-11, when they reached the Stanley Cup final.

"It's not bad. Vintage," Kesler said with a laugh about his recent exploits.

Silfverberg added a goal and an assist, Rickard Rakell contributed a goal and goalie Jonathan Bernier stopped 27 shots for his third successive victory. As a result, the Ducks (9-6-3) used their fifth win in seven games to move into first place by two points over the Edmonton Oilers.

Kyle Quincey had a goal and an assist for the Devils (9-4-3), who held a 2-0 lead before watching their five-game winning streak end. Goalie Cory Schneider made 20 saves.

"It was a chippy game," Schneider said. "They're a big, physical team. We tried to use our speed to our advantage, and there were times where we were winning the puck battles and keeping them hemmed in their end. But we had a couple of breakdowns and they find a way to make you pay."

Kesler scored his team-leading eighth goal at 16:20 of the third period. After receiving Silfverberg's pass from the right corner, Kesler took a short-range shot that Schneider blocked with his stick. But Kesler swiped at the rebound and deposited a backhand inside the left post for his sixth goal in six games and his seventh this month.

"He pulled a puck that was in the crease and over the line," Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said. "That takes determination, will and talent."

Then in the final 3:29, the Ducks had to defuse a power play after Josh Manson took a tripping penalty, and repel New Jersey's attempt to score after pulling Schneider for the final 1:35. With Schneider off the ice, the Devils held a 6-on-4 advantage for the final five seconds of Manson's penalty.

"It was a grind out there," Devils right winger P.A. Parenteau said. "It was a war tonight."

The Ducks scored twice within 16 seconds late in the second period to tie the score after New Jersey built a 2-0 lead earlier in the period.

Rakell scored his fifth goal with 2:36 remaining in the second period. Rakell received Ryan Getzlaf's pass from the left corner and flipped a wrist shot from the slot that Schneider tried to catch, but the puck deflected off his glove.

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Rakell has nine points in his nine games since signing a six-year contract worth $22.8 million on Oct. 14. Getzlaf registered his 14th assist to tie the Oilers' Connor McDavid for first place in the NHL.

Then with 2:20 left, Silfverberg converted a shot from the right circle inside the left post for his third goal in four games and his sixth of the season. Korbinian Holzer made the goal possible by intercepting defenseman Jon Merrill's clearance at the left boards and passing ahead to Andrew Cogliano, who sent the puck to Silfverberg.

"After that first goal, we felt like, not that the pressure was off but everybody got going and it was more positive on the bench," Rakell said. "That second goal really gave us energy throughout the game."

The Devils scored the first goal at 10:32, when Devante Smith-Pelly scored his second goal by deflecting Quincey's slapshot from the blue line. Jacob Josefson began the scoring sequence by winning a faceoff in Anaheim's zone at the left circle. Josefson sent the puck to John Moore, who passed to Quincey.

Then at 14:09, Quincey extended the lead to 2-0 with another slapshot from the blue line, a rising drive that settled under the crossbar. Carlyle believed that the Devils' Kyle Palmeiri interfered with Bernier and challenged the call, but video replay confirmed Quincey's second goal of the season.

"For the majority of the game, we were able to play to our identity, and play where we wanted to play and how we wanted to play," New Jersey coach John Hynes said. "Once we got up 2-0, we just got soft in certain areas. We could've killed a couple of plays and been higher on the puck in certain areas."

NOTES: New Jersey scratched D Yohann Auvitu, RW Michael Cammalleri and LW Blake Pietila. Cammalleri did not accompany the Devils on this road trip to attend to personal matters. ... Devils D Jon Merrill made his season debut. Merrill has not played since breaking his right index finger Oct. 1 in an exhibition against the New York Rangers. ... Devils LW Beau Bennett replaced injured LW Taylor Hall (knee) on the team's top line for the second consecutive game. Bennett was born in the Los Angeles suburb of Gardena. ... Anaheim scratched D Clayton Stoner. ... Ducks C Chris Wagner returned to the lineup after clearing waivers Tuesday. ... The Ducks sent RW Logan Shaw to San Diego (AHL) one day after acquiring him from the Florida Panthers for C Michael Sgarbossa.

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