Ducks rally for win against Senators

OTTAWA -- If you give the top power play in the NHL enough opportunities, the chances are it will come through.
The Anaheim Ducks rallied from a three-goal deficit in the third period and Rickard Rakell scored with the man-advantage at 2:38 of overtime in a 4-3 win against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday.

Rakell scored with Senators forward Bobby Ryan, a former Ducks player, serving a double minor penalty for high sticking. It was Rakell's 20th goal of the season.
"We had a plan when we came out (for the power play in overtime)," Rakell said. "We tried it the first time, rolled it the second time and (Ryan) Getzlaf found me and I thought I had some time in the slot there, so I just went for the shot."

Anaheim defenseman Hampus Lindholm scored with 57.2 seconds left in the third period to tie the game 3-3, knocking in a rebound of a shot by Corey Perry.
The Ducks power play, under the direction of Anaheim assistant coach Paul MacLean, who was let go as Senators coach in December 2014, is tops in the League and No. 1 on the road. It was 0-for-3 against the Senators going into overtime.
Getzlaf and former Senators forward Jakob Silfverberg also scored for Anaheim (41-23-10) in the third and Frederik Andersen made 29 saves.
Mike Hoffman, Erik Karlsson and Chris Neil scored for the Senators (34-33-9) and Craig Anderson made 35 saves.

The win enabled the Ducks to keep pace with the Los Angeles Kings in the battle for first place in the Pacific Division. The Ducks trail Los Angeles, a 6-4 winner against the Edmonton Oilers, by three points. Anaheim has a game in hand.
Rakell said MacLean and the Ducks have put more emphasis on practicing the power play this season.
"He always has a plan," Rakell said. "We practice a lot of power play. We have a plan going out there. We want to do something first and a second plan if it doesn't work. The big difference this year and why we've been so successful on the power play is we work on the power play more, at least three or four times a week, every chance we have a real practice and it's certainly paying off. Also, the thing with Paul in these kinds of situations, he lets us do our thing because we're good players and we can make plays out there. We're just trying to find what's open."

The Ducks, down four injured regulars and with center Ryan Kesler missing a second game on personal leave, were down 3-0 late in the second period and each of the Senators goals came with Hoffman, Karlsson and Neil being open for short shots which left Andersen little chance.
"We left our goalie out to dry," Getzlaf said. "He was getting backdoor tap-ins, those kinds of things, and it's unlike our group. It was nice to see the character to come back and regroup and do what we did in the third. We got fed up with the way we were playing."
Getzlaf started the comeback for Anaheim with his 12th of the season at 5:43 of the third to make it 3-1, finishing off a pass from Jamie McGinn.
"I think we wanted it more than they did for the first two periods and even the beginning of the third," Karlsson said. "Once they got the first goal, it feels like we don't really want it that much anymore, and we don't want to play the same way as we did early in the game, to keep it going. Good teams are going to make you pay."

Silfverberg made it 3-2 at 11:31, scoring from almost the same spot as Getzlaf, to the left of Anderson, taking a pass from Cam Fowler.
Lindholm, who scored as the extra man on the ice in the last minute of the third period, gave another example of what the Ducks need to do: get big bodies in front of the net.
Andersen made a key save when Hoffman was awarded a penalty shot at 4:33 of the third period and the Senators leading 3-0. Hoffman was hooked by Perry on a breakaway. Hoffman lost the puck as he tried to deke Andersen and the Ducks goaltender knocked it away.
"Once we got the goal in the third period and we stopped the penalty shot, they believed they could win," Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said. "They did what they do when they're playing well. We didn't give up a lot of good chances and we went to the net and threw pucks at the net and our big guys won battles in front of the net and that's the secret to our win."