Ducks can’t keep up with Avalanche in battle of red-hot teams

ANAHEIM — The Ducks had the opportunity to climb into first place in the Pacific Division with a win of any kind at Honda Center on Tuesday night.

There was but one obstacle, hockey’s most formidable team, the Colorado Avalanche, who dispatched their hosts, 5-1, to complete a SoCal sweep on consecutive nights.

The Avs won their third straight decision and the fifth in their past six. The Ducks stumbled for just the third time in their last 15 outings and the first time in their past nine home games, a stretch that dated to Jan 2. They lost the season series to Colorado, 2-1, after splitting two games in Denver.

Cutter Gauthier scored the Ducks’ lone goal. Lukáš Dostál made 21 saves.

Cale Makar figured into the first three goals for Colorado. He scored one, set up another by Parker Kelly, who tacked on a second goal, and assisted on a power-play marker from Martin Nečas. Captain Gabriel Landeskog also tallied. Brock Nelson and Jack Drury picked up two assists apiece, while Scott Wedgewood stopped 27 shots.

Just 4:35 into the third period, the Avs iced their cake then slathered on a fifth goal with 9:54 to play.

Kelly notched his second goal of the game after two shots generated two rebounds, with Dostál unable to cover the second one with his glove. Drury dug the puck out, dipped behind the net and found Kelly in front unmarked.

Colorado had seized a 4-1 advantage after a turnover inside the Ducks’ offensive blue line. Their counterattack culminated in Nathan MacKinnon finding Landeskog for a one-time blast that put the game out of reach. MacKinnon’s assist got him across the 100-point threshold.

In the second period, the Ducks nearly scored but instead ended up killing a penalty. Soon after, they reduced their deficit by half, 4:50 into the stanza, only to go down by two anew at the 15:03 mark.

Makar used his silky skating and precise passing in equal measure to set up a laser from above the left circle by Kelly, stretching the Avs’ lead to 3-1.

Earlier, Chris Kreider was sent off for goalie interference, nullifying a Ducks’ goal, even though it was Wedgewood who initiated contact with the winger.

Twenty seconds after the kill, Leo Carlsson backed up the defense before Kreider generated a rebound off the rush. A failed clearing attempt by Gavin Brindley came to Jackson LaCombe. He skated forward, forcing Wedgewood to challenge and leaving a wide-open net for Gauthier after LaCombe found him through a seam. The goal put him one shy of 30 this season.

The Ducks mounted the near misses and shots on goal, eight to the Avs’ two, but it was Colorado getting the stone rolling, 11:33 into the tilt. The visitors added a power-play goal at 14:05 to carry a 2-0 lead into the break.

Nečas extended their edge during the Avs’ first power play of the match with a one-timer from high in the right circle off a seam pass from Nelson.

Nelson figured heavily into the first goal as well, stealing the puck back on the forecheck before combining with Makar to set up Valeri Nichushkin on the backdoor. The puck went wide to Makar, who weaved into the slot to score off a far-side wrister.

The Ducks will be right back at it on Wednesday, when they welcome the New York Islanders.

More to come on this story.