March 3rd, 2017

For most NHL teams, their first game after the bye week hasn’t gone well.  That wasn’t the case for the Ducks, who beat the Maple Leafs 5-2 on Friday at the Honda Center.

Richard Rakell scored twice and Jonathan Bernier made 37 saves, as the Ducks maintained a two point lead over Calgary for 3rd place in the Pacific Division.

The Ducks  also got goals from Sami Vatanen and Jakob Silfverberg.  Patrick Eaves added an empty-netter for his first goal as a Duck to secure the win.

Anaheim fell behind 2-1 in the 2nd period after a power play goal from Toronto’s Nazem Kadri.  However, the Ducks got goals 16 seconds apart from Silfverberg and Rakell.

Rakell now has 4 goals in his last 3 games and 26 on the season.

Bernier got the win against his former team.  Meanwhile, Frederik Andersen did not get the chance to play against the Ducks, his former team, as he sat out the 2nd night of a back-to-back.

Ducks G John Gibson missed his third consecutive game with a lower-body injury.  Anaheim will return to action on Sunday night vs Vancouver.