Daniel Sprong scored his second goal of the game at 1:19 of overtime to lift the visiting Anaheim Ducks to a 2-1 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night.
Adam Henrique won a faceoff in the Columbus zone, and Sprong took possession of the puck at the top of the left circle. He turned into the slot and shot the puck into the net to give Anaheim its eighth win in the past nine games.
John Gibson made 36 saves for Anaheim, which improved to 9-3-2 against the Eastern Conference this season.
Markus Nutivaara scored, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 20 saves for Columbus, which dropped to 1-2-1 on its season-long six-game homestand.
Nutivaara gave Columbus a 1-0 lead at 12:06 of the first period.
Boone Jenner won the faceoff against Carter Rowney in the Anaheim zone, and the puck went directly to Nutivaara at the top of the left circle. He shot a one-timer that sailed over Gibson's glove and into the net for his fourth goal of the season.
The Ducks tied the game 1-1 at 15:56 of the first period.
Blue Jackets defenseman Scott Harrington had possession in the Columbus zone and tried to clear the puck up the wall, but it caromed out to Anaheim defenseman Josh Manson just inside the Blue Jackets blue line.
He brought the puck into the right circle and passed it ahead to Sprong at the bottom of the circle. Sprong fit the puck on the shortside against Bobrovsky for his second goal since he was acquired in trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Dec. 3.
The Ducks, who were opening a season-long six-game road trip, came into the game 30th in the NHL in scoring at 2.55 goals a game, but had combined for 22 goals in their previous five games.
Anaheim defeated the visiting Blue Jackets 3-2 in overtime on Nov. 4 to end a seven-game losing streak.
--Field Level Media
Anaheim | Columbus | |
Daniel Sprong 2 | Points | Markus Nutivaara 1 |
Daniel Sprong 2 | Goals | Markus Nutivaara 1 |
Adam Henrique 1 | Assists | Boone Jenner 1 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | N/A |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
John Gibson .973 | Save Percentage | Sergei Bobrovsky .909 |
John Gibson 36 | Saves | Sergei Bobrovsky 20 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Anaheim | 22 | 2 | 0-1 | 3-3 | 8 | 39 |
Columbus | 37 | 1 | 0-3 | 1-1 | 4 | 20 |