ANAHEIM — John Gibson returned to the Ducks’ net Wednesday after a five-game layoff because of a positive COVID-19 test. But their backup goaltender, their leading scorer, their top two left wings and half of their six-man defense corps remained sidelined as the Colorado Avalanche visited Honda Center.

It hardly seemed like a fair fight.

Then suddenly, unexpectedly, it was one.

Nicolas Deslauriers engaged in a lengthy, spirited fight with frequent dance partner Kurtis MacDermid of the Avalanche at 13:03 of the first period, a signal the Ducks were not going to simply roll over and accept their fate. The Ducks were full of fire but, ultimately, not full of goals.

Samuel Girard scored the only goal the Western Conference-leading Avalanche would need to win late in the second period and goalie Pavel Francouz stopped 34 shots as Colorado blanked the Ducks, 2-0, for its fourth consecutive victory. The Ducks lost their fourth in a row.

“Unfortunately, we just don’t have the firepower,” Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said.

COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on the Ducks’ lineup since they returned from the Christmas break on Dec. 29. Five players remained in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocols on Wednesday, including their leading scorer Troy Terry, their top defensive pair of Cam Fowler and Josh Manson and backup goalie Anthony Stolarz.

Compounding matters, left wings Adam Henrique (lower body) and Sonny Milano (upper body) were sidelined by injuries. Henrique and Milano skated on their own Wednesday, but Eakins couldn’t say when they would be sound enough to play again. Milano is likely to return “sooner than later,” Eakins said.

The absence of Fowler, Henrique, Milano and Terry played a key role in the Ducks’ struggles to score, especially when they went 0 for 4 on their power play, which was fifth-ranked in the NHL going into the game. Eakins cobbled together two units featuring players who haven’t played a great deal together.

It was only the second time the Ducks were 0 for 4 on the power play in 2021-22.

“That’s where we would have liked to have stung them for one,” Eakins said.

Instead, the Ducks’ scoreless streak was extended to 133:54, dating to Trevor Zegras’ goal in the third period of their 7-3 loss to the Minnesota Wild last Friday. They were then shut out, 3-0, by Marc-Andre Fleury and the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday before they were blanked again Wednesday.

“Everything was great,” Eakins said of the Ducks’ overall play. “We just need more firepower.”

Now, about the fight, a contender for the bout of the season so far …

Deslauriers knocked MacDermid’s helmet off his head and then landed a straight right to his opponent’s face. MacDermid landed several rights, too. They slugged it out for an extended stretch, lifting their teammates and the Honda Center fans to their feet. Deslauriers bellowed as he went to the penalty box.

Both players had bruised and bloodied knuckles.

“I have to give Nic Deslauriers a shout-out for standing up for me,” said Ducks defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, who absorbed a hit along the boards from MacDermid that touched off the fight. “That’s the kind of hockey we’ve been playing all year. It seems like we got back to that tonight.”

Duly inspired, the Ducks deployed a strong forecheck that hemmed in the Avalanche. Playing keepaway with the puck, dictating the terms of the game, served the Ducks well. Adopting a defensive stance and allowing the Avalanche to play with the puck is never a winning formula.

Any questions about Gibson’s readiness after such a lengthy layoff were answered when he thwarted Colorado’s Cale Makar with a glove save in the opening minutes of the game. Gibson hadn’t played in a game since the Ducks’ victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Jan. 4.

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Gibson made 26 saves, but he couldn’t stop Girard’s knuckling, bouncing shot from the high slot at 18:29 of the second period. Colorado believed it had scored 8:49 into the third, but Mikko Rantanen was ruled to have pitchforked the puck out of Gibson’s glove and into the net after the whistle.

The Ducks pressed for the tying goal in the final minutes but came up empty.

Colorado’s Nazem Kadri made it 2-0 with an empty-net goal with 1:09 left.

“We just have to find ways to get the guy in front, get those scrums and get the puck in the net,” Ducks defenseman Hampus Lindholm said. “We’re all capable of scoring goals. We just have to go that little extra, deep down, to get that puck in the net. At some point, you need to score to win games, and we’ve been doing it in the past. We just have to get back to it.”