Anaheim holds off Pittsburgh

A four-goal second period gave the Ducks just enough cushion to defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 5-3, last night in Anaheim, Calif.

Trailing 1-0 after the first period, the Ducks scored two goals 1:35 apart in the first six minutes of the second, and added two more goals before the period was out to carry a 4-1 lead into the final frame. Rickard Rakell potted his 16th goal of the season, followed quickly by Adam Henrique’s 10th of the season. Chris Wagner scored shorthanded at 9:24, and Ondrej Kase capped his two-point period with a goal with just 1:36 left in the frame.

But back came the defending Stanley Cup champs, who scored two power-play goals to make it a one-goal game. Phil Kessel scored his 21st, and picked up his 33rd assist on Jake Guentzel’s tally with 5:56 to go.

The Ducks withstood a late Pens storm, who skated with the extra attacker for more than the final two minutes. Hampus Lindholm’s empty-netter sealed the deal. John Gibson had 30 saves for the win.

Tristan Jarry made 28 saves for Pittsburgh, which was missing No.1 netminder Matt Murray, who took a leave of absence from the team following the death of his father James.

Elsewhere in the NHL — Scotty Bowman, a senior adviser for the Blackhawks, said during a radio interview with CJCL-AM 590 out of Toronto that goaltender Corey Crawford most likely has post-concussion syndrome rather than vertigo-like symptoms.

Bowman told the Tribune via phone after the radio interview that he had no confirmation about the specifics of Crawford’s injury and was speculating it was concussion-related based on his past experiences in hockey.

Crawford, 33, has not played since Dec. 23. He is 16-9-2 with a .929 save percentage and 2.27 goalsagainst average.