Ducks win again at home

Todd Marchant, the Ducks’ do-anything, play-anywhere utility forward, has scored the game’s first goal for the Ducks in the last three they’ve played.

Which raises the question: What’s gotten into Todd Marchant?

Blessed with everything but height and soft hands, the diminutive Marchant again got the Ducks started with another head-scratching goal, and his teammates took it from there Wednesday night in a convincing 4-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks at the Honda Center.

The Ducks’ eighth consecutive home win set a franchise mark and proved crucial as they pulled within two points of first-place San Jose and one of Dallas in the Pacific Division. It was an impressive response to their disappointing come-from-ahead 3-2 shootout loss to Phoenix on Tuesday.

“We were a desperate hockey club,” Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle said. “It was easy to get down on what happened last night. We really felt we missed an opportunity for that extra point, and we were pretty down on ourselves.”

Those who do the dirty work hogged the spotlight in a three-goal first period against Roberto Luongo, the Canucks’ star netminder. Marchant and Travis Moen each scored and had assists, and Samuel Pahlsson helped set up Rob Niedermayer’s rebound goal.

Moen’s goal was the first short-handed tally of his four-year career. But Marchant’s score proved the most memorable in a game of surprises.

As he finished serving a minor penalty for tripping, the speedy forward charged out of the penalty box and went after Chris Kunitz’s pass off the boards into the Vancouver zone.

Luongo went after the puck as well, which was a decision he would regret. Marchant easily won the race and went around the goalie to find an open net.

“I kind of figured that I at least had a breakaway,” Marchant said. “But I wasn’t expecting [him]. I saw him come out so I kind of got on my horse. I knew I was going to get to it before he was.”

Never known as a pure scorer in his 13-year career, Marchant has only eight goals this season despite his recent splurge. The veteran has been indispensable, however, as he has played on all four lines at every forward position.

“When you talk about the fruits of labor, I think it’s an instance where he’s been rewarded for the hard work that he’s been putting in,” Carlyle said.

And the three goals that Marchant has scored would make the most ardent hockey observer do a double take.

In the Ducks’ 3-1 win Sunday over Montreal, the veteran center took a bad-angle shot on the game’s first shift that ramped up the stick of Canadiens defenseman Andrei Markov and sailed into the air above the net before dropping in behind Carey Price.

On Tuesday, Marchant flipped a backhand shot toward the net that Phoenix goalie Ilya Bryzgalov inexplicably let sneak between his pads. And then came his goal Wednesday that helped turn the tide against the Canucks, who won the other three meetings this season.

“None of them have been very pretty, to be honest with you,” Marchant said. “At the end of the day, no one really asks how. They all count.”

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eric.stephens@latimes.com