Henrique, Getzlaf help Ducks win again, beat Penguins 4-2

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Anaheim Ducks would love to stop playing from behind. It’s just not happening. And somehow it’s not a problem, either. Particularly on the road.

The Ducks spotted the Pittsburgh Penguins two first-period goals and then roared back for a 4-2 victory on Monday for their ninth win in 10 games. Adam Henrique and Ryan Getzlaf each had a goal and an assist as Anaheim got its sixth straight road win, tied for the second-longest in franchise history.

“Sometimes when you get in other buildings, it’s tough when a couple bounces down 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.”

Ondrej Kase and Kiefer Sherwood also scored for the Ducks, who have won three straight over the Penguins. John Gibson, a Pittsburgh native, stopped 28 shots, including the final 24 he faced. He called Anaheim’s dominant second period — when the Ducks scored three times to move in front — perhaps its best of the season. Gibson did the rest of the work in the third, turning aside two Pittsburgh power plays to win his in hometown for the second consecutive year.

“We learned the team that we can be,” Gibson said. “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.”

Evgeni Malkin got his 11th goal of the season for Pittsburgh and Bryan Rust added his sixth but the Penguins couldn’t cool off the Ducks. Casey DeSmith finished with 32 saves but lost for only the third time in his last 11 starts after letting a twogoal lead slip away for a third straight game. Pittsburgh recovered to beat Boston and Los Angeles last week. Not this time.

“If a team goes down a couple goals, they push back and that’s what they did,” DeSmith said. “Maybe next time just withstand it a little bit better and push back sooner.”

The Penguins have spent the last month slowly recovering from a sluggish start that at one point had them flirting with last place in the Eastern Conference.