Avalanche score 4 straight in 3rd period, rally past Ducks

ANAHEIM -- Charlie Coyle had a goal and two assists for the Colorado Avalanche, who scored four straight goals in the third period for a 4-2 win against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on Sunday.

"It feels good to end the season on a winning note," Coyle said. "Everyone feels a little better about themselves, the team as a whole, and we had a lot of commitment from these guys."

Jack Drury had a goal and an assist, Wyatt Aamodt scored his first NHL goal in his second game, and Scott Wedgewood made 18 saves in the regular-season finale for the Avalanche (49-29-4), who will finish in third place in the Central Division.

In preparation for their first-round series against the Dallas Stars, the Avalanche did not play their top seven point-scorers against the Ducks.

"We'll be ready," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "We've got a whole week here to get prepared for Dallas. We know they're a very good team, obviously, and they've been tough competition for us the last few years."

Mason McTavish and Sam Colangelo scored, and Lukas Dostal made 20 saves for the Ducks (35-37-8), who have lost two in a row.

“We gave them too many odd-man rushes, especially being up," McTavish said. "We’ve got to do a better job of closing the game out.”

Aamodt cut the lead to 2-1 at 10:05 of the third period. He took a behind-the-back pass from Martin Necas on a rush and scored with a shot from the right circle that went off the skate of Ducks defenseman Pavel Mintyukov and past Dostal.

"I love seeing guys come up and play in their first game, especially when they come up and play really well like that,” Bednar said of Aamodt.

Ducks defenseman Drew Helleson sent the puck over the glass for Anaheim’s second delay of game penalty of the third period, and Drury redirected Sam Malinski’s shot from the high slot past Dostal to tie it 2-2 at 14:34.

Coyle then gave the Avalanche a 3-2 lead at 17:51 when he scored from the right circle off a feed from Jimmy Vesey on a rush.

“The culture they have there is kind of next man up," McTavish said. "Clearly, they still have a lot of skill, and we knew right from the start that it was going to be a tough game.”

Erik Johnson scored an empty-net goal with 48 seconds left for the 4-2 final.

"It took until late, but we got it done and that's obviously a nice way to finish the year," Wedgewood said.

McTavish gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead at 18:52 of the first period. He took possession of the puck in the neutral zone, skated into the left circle and scored with a wrist shot into the far side of the net.

The Ducks scored one second after their first power play expired to extend the lead to 2-0 at 7:35 of the second period. Frank Vatrano passed the puck from above the right circle to Alex Killorn, who from the side of the net hit Colangelo with a touch pass for a one-timer from the inside edge of the right circle.

"I feel like we've been way more competitive and, obviously, the standings show that," McTavish said of Anaheim's season. "But we're really competitive guys. We want it to happen right away, and just to step away from it and just look at it from afar, I think there's definitely some growth."

NOTES: The Avalanche played without forwards Nathan MacKinnon (undisclosed), Artturi Lehkonen (lower body), Jonathan Drouin (lower body), Valeri Nichushkin (lower body) and Ross Colton (upper body), and defensemen Cale Makar (rest) and Devon Toews (rest). All are expected to be ready for the playoffs. ... Bednar coached his 700th NHL game (390-246-64), becoming the 55th NHL coach to reach the milestone. … Wedgewood extended his point streak to nine games (8-0-1), the longest by a Colorado goalie this season. ... The Avalanche lead the NHL with 15 wins when trailing after the first period. ... Anaheim defenseman Ian Moore had three shots on goal in 15:31 of ice time in his NHL debut. Moore is the first player to make his NHL debut for the Ducks this season, while the Avalanche have had a League-leading nine players make their NHL debuts this season.