Ducks keep game up by beating Avalanche 2-1

Jakob Silfverberg and Cam Fowler each scored goals as the Anaheim Ducks showed they still have some fight left Sunday afternoon with a 2-1 victory over the visiting Colorado Avalanche. The Ducks ended a five-game losing streak.

Anaheim goaltender John Gibson made 25 saves in his second game since returning from multiple injuries. The Ducks' victory also came during the return of captain Ryan Getzlaf, who had missed the previous five games with an upper-body injury. The Avalanche dropped their second consecutive game, derailing their efforts to get back into playoff eligibility in the Western Conference. The Avalanche have lost three of their past four games following a four-game winning streak.

The Avalanche could have moved into the wild-card lead with a victory Friday at San Jose, but they lost that game and have since moved further out of playoff eligibility as they were passed in the Western Conference standings by the Arizona Coyotes. The Ducks won for just the sixth time in their last 31 games, and at 25-32-9 (59 points) they are the second-worst team in the Western Conference.

Silfverberg's goal 3:17 into the game came after he picked up a loose puck at centre ice, worked his way toward the right circle and fired a wrist shot over the glove of Avs goaltender Philipp Grubauer. Silfverberg's 17th goal of the season and 100th goal as a member of the Ducks came one day after his five-year contract extension was finalized.

Fowler gave the Ducks a 2-0 lead at 10:26 of the second period when his shot through traffic on the power play worked its way through five players, getting some assistance when Colorado defenseman Nikita Zadorov changed the shot's direction with his stick. It was just the second time in the past six games the Ducks managed to score more than one goal in a game.

Less than four minutes after Fowler's goal, the Ducks lost centre Devin Shore for the remainder of the game when his left knee collided with the right knee of Avs defenseman Ian Cole. Colorado nearly got on the board when defenseman Erik Johnson hit the crossbar. Less than one minute later, Avs forward Derick Brassard scored on the power play, his 12th goal of the season.

Brassard, who joined Colorado at the trade deadline, has two goals in four games with his new team. 

(With inputs from agencies.)