Pavel Mintyukov scores with 3:29 left to lift Ducks past Blue Jackets, 4-3
- - Pavel Mintyukov scores with 3:29 left to lift Ducks past Blue Jackets, 4-3
MIKE DiGIOVANNA December 21, 2025 at 7:02 AM
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Anaheim Ducks right wing Beckett Sennecke, top, skates into Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Pavel Mintyukov slid a shot from the slot past Elvis Merzlikins with 3:29 left and the Anaheim Ducks beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3 on Saturday night.
Mikael Granlund threaded a pass from the right circle to set up Merzlikins, and also scored. Jacob Trouba and Mason McTavish added goals to help the Ducks move back into first place in the Pacific Division.
Anaheim goalie Lukas Dostal made 23 saves. He was pulled Friday night in an 8-3 loss to Dallas after he gave up four goals on seven shots in the first 14 1/2 minutes.
Dmitri Voronkov, Mason Marchment and Zach Werenski scored for Columbus. Merzlikins made 24 saves.
Werenski tied it at 3 with 7:16 left, taking a pass from Denton Mateychuk and snapping a shot from the left circle over Dostal’s right blocker. He has five goals in three games and 14 overall.
Werenski was injured when he blocked a shot with 2:11 left and struggled to get to the bench, the Blue Jackets taking a penalty for too many men on the ice that stifled any comeback hopes.
Columbus tied it at 2 when Marchment, acquired from the Seattle Kraken on Friday, redirected a waist-high, blue-line shot from Damon Severson past Dostal 3:39 into the second.
Anaheim took a 3-2 lead when fourth-line winger Ross Johnston slipped a pass from behind the Columbus net to McTavish, who snapped a shot from the slot over Merzlikins’s right shoulder with 6:24 left in the second.
Up next
Ducks: Host Seattle on Monday night.
Blue Jackets: At Los Angeles on Monday night.
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Source: “AOL Sports”
