Ducks score three goals in the third, beat Detroit, 4-3 in shootout

Looking for a substantive example that they’ve pulled out of their slump, the Ducks found it Monday, scoring three third-period goals and beating the Detroit Red Wings, 4-3, in a shootout.

“That’s what we wanted,” Ducks forward Andrew Cogliano said of the Ducks’ third consecutive victory. “We wanted to get that ball rolling again in the right direction.

“We stuck to the game plan, kept forcing them, put more pressure on them.”

Cogliano scored the first of the three goals against Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard, saying that after just 10 shots through a scoreless first two periods the hosts made a conscious effort to shoot high on the goalie.

“He was letting pucks out in front of him,” Cogliano said.

Cogliano followed a shot from defenseman Hampus Lindholm to the net 9 minutes 17 seconds into the third.

Then, a long-distance offering from Ducks defenseman Clayton Stoner bounced off Howard’s chest, and when Red Wings defenseman Alexey Marchenko whiffed on the loose puck, Ducks forward Emerson Etem didn’t, scooting a shot under Howard’s legs.

“Kind of had a wicked bounce, I just had time to slide it through,” Etem said. “If we score one, we know we have the guys to keep it coming.”

Keeping the Ducks’ longtime first-line mates Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry separated for the first two periods didn’t stir success on offense.

Both were without shots through 40 minutes.

So Ducks Coach Bruce Boudreau reunited the pair after eight periods of estrangement and the result was a key point, Getzlaf outmuscling Detroit to work a backhanded pass to defenseman Francois Beauchemin that was smacked to the net with 7:03 left.

Beauchemin has a career-best three-game goal streak and praised Getzlaf for “working hard” on the play.

“We didn’t quit, kept going,” Beauchemin said. “[The Red Wings] were doing a great job keeping our shots down, they were blocking shots … [but] in the third, we came out more aggressive. Keeping it in the zone, working the walls.

“Detroit is one of the best [teams] in the league. We responded the right way.”

The Red Wings (33-14-11) forced overtime on Riley Sheahan’s goal with 3:51 remaining, but in the shootout, Perry and Jakob Silfverberg also scored and Ducks goalie John Gibson kept two of three shots out after 35 saves in regulation and overtime in his sixth consecutive start.

Detroit center Pavel Datsyuk opened scoring 74 seconds into the second period by collecting a pass along the boards in the Ducks’ defensive zone by Stoner, skating in and firing high.

The Ducks (38-16-7) had only three shots on goal in the second.

Then, Ducks forward Patrick Maroon committed a holding penalty and the NHL’s top power-play team struck again.

Datsyuk took a pass from forward Justin Abdelkader in front of Gibson, and instead of shooting quick — as Gibson anticipated by moving toward his right — Datsyuk held the puck, slid to his left and backhanded in his 21st goal to open net 6:50 into the second.

“We stayed within striking distance of a team that was outplaying us,” Boudreau said. “Sometimes, one really good period … you get some emotion in the game, they start backpedaling.”