Ducks’ big line leads the way in 4-3 victory over Canucks

The Ducks were staring into an abyss Wednesday and the ice was melting beneath their skates.

Winless in their first three games this season and trailing the Vancouver Canucks in the third period of their home opener, they were facing the prospect of another hapless, luckless loss.

“I think it was right on the edge there,” goaltender Jonas Hiller said. “I think it could have gone both ways.”

It went their way because of the wake-up call belatedly heard by their previously scoreless big line of Bobby Ryan, Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, which took over the game in the third period and rallied the Ducks to a 4-3 victory at the Honda Center.

“That was better,” said Getzlaf, who scored the first goal and set up the other three.

“That was a relief,” said Perry, who tied the score at 3-3 at 8:54 of the third period, taking a perfect pass from Getzlaf and scoring into an empty left side of the net.

“We were gripping our sticks a little tight. I don’t think there’s any secret there,” said Ryan, who stripped the puck from Henrik Sedin — the NHL’s most valuable player last season — at the Canucks’ blue line to create a give-and-go with Getzlaf that Ryan finished with a shot over Roberto Luongo’s arm for the decisive goal at 10:12 of the third period.

The Ducks had been outplayed and outshot in falling behind, 2-1, in the first period. They pulled even on Teemu Selanne’s power-play goal at 15:09 of the second period, but Christian Ehrhoff put the Canucks back ahead at 5:23 of the third, with Ryan sitting in the box on a debatable hooking penalty called on him in the offensive zone.

The Canucks continued to press, and moments after Ducks defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky cleared the puck out of the crease and away from a helpless Hiller the Ducks went up ice and tied it at 8:54, when Getzlaf found an open Perry by the left post.

Perry raised his arms skyward in celebration. “It was something we needed just to get the confidence back in our game,” he said.

Their confidence had been shaken after being outscored by a combined 13-2 in losing their first three games and outshot, 145-72. The ugly shot total didn’t change much — Vancouver had 39 shots on a sharp Hiller — but the rally that changed the course of the game might have changed the course of their season.

“It was time for it, I think,” Getzlaf said.

Not all the bounces went their way: Vancouver’s third goal, a slap shot by Ehrhoff, deflected off Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler and up and over Hiller’s shoulder.

But they maintained their poise and their purpose, for once, and that made all the difference.

“When our line’s effective we slow that game down and we’re able to play with that puck more,” Getzlaf said.

He had given them their first lead of the season during a first-period power play, taking a fine pass from Ryan and skating in on the right side until he was about 20 feet away from Luongo before taking a wrist shot that slipped between the goalie’s pads.

But Perry took a penalty for goaltender interference at 3:07 and Vancouver pulled even 50 seconds later on a goal by Daniel Sedin.

The Canucks took the lead at 4:14, on their third shot of the game. Manny Malhotra banged the puck off the boards to defenseman Dan Hamhuis, whose shot was deftly redirected by Raffi Torres and past Hiller as the crowd groaned.

Selanne put the Ducks back on equal footing at 15:09 of the second by ripping a shot from the left circle during a power play. That stood until Ehrhoff’s redirected shot in the third.

The Canucks grumbled that the Ducks might have had too many men on the ice on Ryan’s winner, but they didn’t make a huge deal of it. For the Ducks, though, this win was a big deal.

“We got the bounces we were kind of longing for and didn’t happen the first three games,” Hiller said. “It’s the difference between having that confidence and that good feeling, and not having it.”

helene.elliott@latimes.com

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