ANAHEIM, Calif._No captain, no problem.
The Anaheim Ducks were forced to play without Ryan Getzlaf, who's produced 42 points in 40 games, after he was stricken with the flu.
The perennial all-star center is certainly the Ducks' best player, but they still got the job done without him with a 4-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday at Honda Center.
The Jackets struck first, but the Ducks responded moments later with a goal of their own, and it was all Anaheim as the home squad potted three more unanswered tallies.
With the win, the Ducks have now grabbed points in six of their last seven games as they push for the playoffs, and this was an important one with just 17 games remaining.
"It was a good, resilient win by our team in terms of missing our best player," said Andrew Cogliano, who scored a short-handed breakaway goal in the second after stealing the puck from all-star winger Artemi Panarin.
"That says a lot about the guys that are here and it says a lot about the guys who have come in and responded."
Getzlaf was out, but the Ducks welcomed back starting goaltender John Gibson, who missed three games with a lower-body injury. He was stout in net, with 34 saves on 36 shots for his first victory since Feb. 19.
There were also two newcomers to the lineup: Jason Chimera and Chris Kelly, who both joined the Ducks on Monday. The veteran duo, acquired for their playoff experience and speed, formed two-thirds of a newly constructed fourth unit (they also factored in on the penalty kill.)
But it was a familiar face who again inflicted damage, the Ducks' lone all-star this season, Rickard Rakell.
The Swede scored two goals in the final 21 seconds on Sunday to ensure the Ducks came away with one point in a loss, and he also completed his first career hat trick the last time the Ducks were on the ice.
After four days to recoup, Rakell was back at it again with the Ducks' first goal of the game, a backhanded rebound putaway just 38 seconds after the Blue Jackets made it 1-0. (Rakell also added an assist.)
A timely pinch by Fowler set up the goal after the blueliner chipped it past the defense to keep it in the zone, and then slung it toward the net from a sharp angle.
Fowler added a goal of his own in the third period _ the Ducks' final of the game_off a puck-control feed from Adam Henrique, who continues to pile up points after coming over in a late November trade.
But it was the penalty kill that sealed Columbus' fate.
Less than a minute-and-a-half after Cogliano converted on the shorthanded attempt, it was Josh Manson, fresh out of the penalty box, who had the puck waiting for him off a beautiful outlet pass from Francois Beauchemin.
Manson deked the reigning Vezina Trophy winner on the breakaway and then finished on the backside, a deflating goal for a Blue Jackets squad that finished 0-4 on the power play one night after they lost to the Los Angeles Kings.
"You can't win in the league with porous penalty killing," said Ducks coach Randy Carlyle, "you can't have success. ... Usually your goaltender's your No. 1 penalty killer, but again, it's about acclimating some new people into the lineup, starting with the puck, get those 200-foot clears and outwork the opposition's power play."
Recently, the Ducks have been outworking a lot of teams, no matter the scenario, as they continue to jockey for position down the home stretch.
