ANAHEIM, Calif. -- A goalie who played only 10 NHL games in the past three seasons picked up his first victory in 16 months Sunday night.

Goalie Richard Bachman stopped 43 shots to win his season debut and lead the Vancouver Canucks to a 2-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks at the Honda Center.

The 29-year-old Bachman, recalled from the Canucks' AHL affiliate in Utica on Feb. 27, had not started in the NHL since Oct. 30, 2015. That game also served as Bachman's last victory until Sunday night.

"I was a little nervous," Bachman said. "No matter if it's your fifth start in a row or your first one in over a year, you're going to be a little nervous. It just shows that you care.

"Anytime you get a chance to play in this league, it's an awesome experience, an awesome opportunity. You just want to relish it and show management that you belong up here. To get a win is even more special."

After losing backup goalie Jacob Markstrom to a knee injury Feb. 26, Canucks coach Willie Desjardins played Bachman after Ryan Miller started in Saturday night's 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Kings..

"I've seen him turn in some real big games," Desjardins said. "I had confidence in him, even though he hadn't played in awhile."

Bo Horvat and Markus Granlund scored for the Canucks (28-30-7), who posted their second victory in as many nights after losing six of their previous seven games.

Patrick Eaves scored for the Ducks (33-22-10), who got 25 saves from goalie Jonathan Bernier but fell into a tie for third place in the Pacific Division -- and the first wild-card spot -- with the Calgary Flames.

"We allowed them too much freedom on the ice," Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said. "They played give-and-go hockey and it was like we were chasing the game for the first 40 minutes. Yeah, we got 44 shots, but the desperation didn't set in until the third period."

Bachman kept Anaheim from taking an early lead by making two big saves within 20 seconds during the first period.

At 13:25, Bachman blocked Ryan Kesler's wrist shot at the left post after Kesler received Jakob Silfverberg's pass from the opposite post. Twenty seconds later, Bachman caught Silfverberg's wrist shot from the slot between his knees.

"The big thing early on is that I was making pretty good reads," Bachman said. "You want to be able to come up with some big saves, especially early, to give the guys a chance to get the lead."

Then at 14:09, Horvat's 20th goal of the season put the Canucks ahead 1-0. Bernier blocked Ben Hutton's wrist shot from the blue line with his torso, but the puck trickled free and Horvat swept the puck inside the right post.

Ondrej Kase appeared to tie the score with 3:18 left in the first period, when he deposited the rebound of Eaves' slap shot inside the right post. But officials ruled that Kase kicked the puck into the net and disallowed it. Video replay upheld their call.

Vancouver defenseman Alex Biega kept the Ducks scoreless 6:20 into the second period. Anaheim's Andrew Cogliano went on a breakaway after securing a loose puck in the neutral zone, but Biega leaned into Cogliano and poke-checked the puck away.

Fifteen seconds later, Granlund exploited a turnover to score his 17th goal of the season. Granlund intercepted Kevin Bieksa's pass to start a two-on-one breakaway and fired a wrist shot from the right circle between Bernier's legs to give the Canucks a 2-0 lead.

Bachman saved his biggest performance for the third period, when he stopped 18 of 19 shots.

"We gave up some shots, but there were a lot of straight-on shots I was able to see, with a few plays that were seam plays and cross-rink plays," Bachman said. "Those are a little more difficult."

Eaves ended Bachman's quest for a shutout 6:12 into the third period. The 15-year veteran received Ryan Getzlaf's cross-ice pass at the left circle and fired a rising wrist shot inside the near post. Eaves scored his second goal in as many games and his 23rd of the season.

"We threw a lot on net," Eaves said. "We threw things from the sides and all over the place. But they did a pretty good job of clearing pucks out."

Canucks right winger Loui Eriksson left the game 2:52 into the first period after receiving a hard check from the Ducks' Chris Wagner along the boards at center ice. Desjardins said Eriksson would be out "a couple of days."

NOTES: Vancouver scratched C Reid Boucher, D Philip Larsen and G Jacob Markstrom. ... Canucks D Alexander Edler needs six points for 300 in his career. ... Canucks D Luca Sbisa played for the Ducks from 2009 to 2014. ... Anaheim scratched RW Jared Boll, G John Gibson, D Korbinian Holzer and C Antoine Vermette. ... Ducks C Ryan Kesler needs two assists for 300 in his career. ... Former NHL center Todd Marchant joins the Ducks as an assistant coach for the rest of the season. Marchant, the team's director of player development, spent the final six seasons of his 18-year career with the Ducks.