Ducks defeat Lightning, stop four-game slide

ANAHEIM -- Derek Grant scored two goals, and the Anaheim Ducks ended a four-game losing streak with a 5-1 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Honda Center on Friday.

Vinni Lettieri had a goal and an assist, and John Gibson made 32 saves for the Ducks (20-16-7), who were shut out in their previous two games.
Ducks coach Dallas Eakins entered NHL COVID-19 protocol Friday. Assistant Mike Stothers coached Anaheim.
"I think we played hard as a group for 60 minutes," Grant said. "It was a team effort. We've had a lot of adversity lately with guys in and out, and now coaches in and out. We needed everybody tonight and we got it."
Ross Colton scored, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 30 saves for the Lightning (27-10-5), who went 0-for-7 on the power play. Tampa Bay had won four in a row and six of seven.
"Our group will bounce back," Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said. "They usually do after an effort like this."

The Ducks outshot the Lightning 18-7 in the first period while taking a 2-0 lead.
Grant put a wrist shot under Vasilevskiy's glove off the rush to give Anaheim a 1-0 lead at 11:54.
The goal ended a drought of 145:47 for the Ducks. Their last goal had come 6:06 into the third period during a 7-3 loss at the Minnesota Wild on Jan. 14.
The Ducks killed a tripping penalty by Greg Pateryn, and Kevin Shattenkirk made it 2-0 12 seconds later, putting in the rebound of Pateryn's shot with seven seconds left in the period.
"The problem was how we started," Stamkos said. "We were a step behind."
Grant made it 3-0 when he followed up a rebound on the power play at 7:05 of the second period. Lettieri made it 4-0 at 1:27 of the third.
Colton cut it to 4-1 with a one-timer off Gibson's mask at 5:25.
"We gave ourselves a chance, but the hole we dug was too deep," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "In this league, when you fall behind like that, it can be tough to come back."
The Lightning had a chance to get closer when they went on the power play at 7:24, but Gibson made four saves to help kill the penalty. He stopped Stamkos from low in the left face-off circle at 8:30, then made a glove save on his one-timer at 9:22.
"He was terrific," Grant said of Gibson. "It's the reason he's an All-Star, and he's a huge part of our team. Guys played hard in front of him and tried to limit second and third chances because he's usually going to stop that first one."

Tampa Bay pulled Vasilevskiy on its seventh power play, but Nicolas Deslauriers scored shorthanded into the empty net to extend the lead to 5-1 at 12:23.
Stothers said that was the biggest goal of the game.
"Tampa pulls their goalie and, who knows, if they score it's a tight game and maybe the pressure mounts," Stothers said. "'Des' scores a big goal for us."
Tampa Bay forward Corey Perry played his first game in Anaheim as a visitor and was minus-2 without a shot on goal in 15:12. He played 988 games for the Ducks over his first 14 NHL seasons (2005-19) before his contract was bought out by Anaheim.
"To be here to play in front of these fans again, it was pretty special," said Perry, who returned to Anaheim with the Dallas Stars on Jan. 9, 2020, but was serving a five-game suspension for a hit Jan. 1. The Ducks honored Perry that night. "This was home for 14 years, and to come back, obviously it didn't go the way we planned, it was an emotional day, but now it's out of the way."
NOTES: The Lightning are 1-4-0 in the first of back-to-back games this season. They play at the San Jose Sharks on Saturday. ... Two of Tampa Bay's power plays were cut short by penalties on Lightning forward Alex Killorn. ... Lightning forward Brayden Point had a seven-game point streak end. Stamkos had a four-game point streak end. … Tampa Bay defenseman Fredrik Claesson had one shot and one hit in 11:08 after being called up from Syracuse of the American Hockey League on Thursday. It was his fifth game with the Lightning this season. ... Ducks defenseman Josh Mahura returned after missing 13 games with a lower-body injury. He had an Anaheim-high four blocked shots and two hits in 11:42. … The Ducks lost 3-0 at the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday and 2-0 to the Colorado Avalanche at home Wednesday. … Perry is second in goals (372) in Anaheim history behind Teemu Selanne (457) and second in games played behind Ducks forward Ryan Getzlaf (1,135). He is third in points (776) and assists (404) behind Getzlaf (1,006, 725) and Selanne (988, 531). Perry won the Stanley Cup in 2007, and in 2011 won both the Hart Trophy voted as NHL most valuable player and the Rocket Richard Trophy as the leading goal-scorer in the League (50).