Ducks overcome three-goal deficit to beat Blue Jackets

COLUMBUS, Ohio —  Cam Fowler, Trevor Zegras and Adam Henrique each had a goal and an assist and the Ducks overcame a three-goal deficit to beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-3 on Thursday night to snap a five-game losing streak.

The Ducks scored three times in the second period before putting in the third-period winner. It was their fifth multi-goal comeback this season, tying it with New Jersey for the NHL lead.

Simon Benoit and Max Jones also scored and Isac Lundestrom and Troy Terry each had two assists. Anthony Stolarz stopped 12 shots before being replaced by John Gibson, who stopped all 18 shots he faced.

“I think it was good resiliency by our group,” Fowler said. “Obviously, we didn’t get off to the start that we wanted to, but at this point in the season, how tough things have gone for us, we still continue to fight and claw our way back in the game and then a big third period. It’s something we should be proud of.”

Mathieu Olivier, Jack Roslovic and Nick Blankenburg scored for Columbus and Elvis Merzlikins stopped 28 shots. The Blue Jackets have lost three straight and seven of their last eight, including three in a row at home.

Both teams remained last in their divisions.

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Columbus scored on its first two shots of the game from Olivier, for his first goal since Nov. 23, and Roslovic. Blankenburg made it 3-0 with 2:17 left in the period, seconds after a hit that buried Lundestrom into the Columbus bench.

By the second period, the Ducks had enough.

Twenty-two seconds after swapping Stolarz for Gibson in net, Henrique beat Merzlikins stick side. Fowler and Benoit then drew the Ducks even. Zegras’ goal at 5:07 that proved to be the winner and left Merzlikins banging his stick on the ice in frustration. Jones added an insurance goal at with 4:29 remaining.

“This is a hard league,” Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen said. “You can’t give an inch. They’ve got some skill and you give them some room and that’s what happens.”

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