Ducks score four straight after falling behind by two, defeat Penguins

PITTSBURGH -- The Anaheim Ducks scored four straight goals to win for the ninth time in 10 games, 4-2 against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena on Monday.

Adam Henrique, Kiefer Sherwood and Ondrej Kase scored for Anaheim in the second period after Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust scored for Pittsburgh in the first. Ryan Getzlaf scored into an empty net for the 4-2 final score with 49 seconds remaining.
John Gibson made 28 saves for Anaheim (19-11-5), which has won four straight.
WATCH: [All Ducks vs. Penguins highlights]
"We were pretty soft with the puck in the first period," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. "We allowed them, with their speed and their skill, to dictate the pace of the game. We didn't really create any grind game. If you noticed, once we started to play more of a dump-and-chase, strong forecheck, we started to get some results."
Casey DeSmith made 32 saves for the Penguins (15-12-6), who lost in regulation for the second time in eight games (5-2-1).
Pittsburgh has surrendered a two-goal lead in each of its past three games.
"We have to sustain momentum when we get it," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "I thought we played 40 minutes tonight. We didn't play 60. That second period, we didn't play as well as we're capable. We start off on the very first shift, we take a penalty. It snowballs from there.
"We take two penalties in the first six minutes of the second period, and we lose momentum. So we've got to have a little bit more push back in those situations."

Malkin put the Penguins ahead 1-0 with a power-play goal at 9:38 of the first period. He took a snap shot from the left face-off circle that went past a screen from Jake Guentzel for his 11th goal this season, and second in 12 games.
Rust made it 2-0 at 14:32 of the first by chipping a shot inside the right post after receiving a pass from Sidney Crosby to the right of the crease. It was his fifth goal in four games after scoring one in his first 29 this season.
Henrique cut it to 2-1 with a power-play goal at 2:07 of the second period. Daniel Sprong shot into the crease and Nick Ritchie passed the rebound to Henrique in the left face-off circle, where he scored on a wrist shot.
Sherwood scored on a snap shot blocker side to tie it 2-2 at 5:33 of the second.
Kase gave the Ducks a 3-2 lead with 1:13 remaining in the second. After Getzlaf won a face-off and shot on net, Kase collected the rebound for his third goal of the season.
"Sometimes when you get in other buildings, it's tough when a couple bounces don't go your way early," Getzlaf said. "It's a little bit of an uphill battle. I thought tonight, we did a good job of just staying with our plan, executing with the puck a little bit better, obviously in the second period. We got going as the game went on."

Anaheim outshot Pittsburgh 18-9 in the second period.
"We lead by a couple of goals and we try to play like casually," Malkin said. "We need to understand we play against a good team, and they try to come back. Again, we play at home. We need to control the game. We just [take] a couple bad penalties. They change the game quick. It's the NHL. We play against good players. Any team tries to come back. It doesn't matter the score."

They said it

"I think we're just getting more comfortable. ... We didn't have the best start, but I think we learned a lot from it. We learned the team that we can be. I think we're starting to put it together here now. Maybe it wasn't the best start, but I think we just we have the ability to stay composed and know that we have the ability to come back."-- Ducks goalie John Gibson
"I think it was a push back from them [in the second period], obviously. It seems to happen every game. If we jump out early, the other team comes out hard in the second. It's just the nature of the game and the nature of sports. If a team goes down a couple goals, they kind of snap out of it and push back. That's what they did." -- Penguins goalie Casey DeSmith

Need to know

Sprong faced his former team for the first time since being acquired in a trade from the Penguins for defenseman Marcus Pettersson on Dec. 3. He had one assist in 15:12. ... Ducks defenseman Hampus Lindholm played his 400th NHL game. ... Penguins defenseman Kris Letang played after missing one game with a lower-body injury sustained in the third period of a 5-3 win against the Boston Bruins on Friday. He had the primary assist on Malkin's power-play goal.

What's next

Ducks: At the New York Rangers on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; MSG, PRIME, NHL.TV)
Penguins: At the Washington Capitals on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TVAS)