ANAHEIM — The Ducks scored an early power-play goal, ending a three-game drought without one. They built a first-period lead and maintained it through an atypically sound second period. They played defense by playing offense for extended stretches and received solid goaltending.

Then the Ducks got a little late-game magic from rookie center Trevor Zegras, whose power-play goal with 22 seconds remaining gave the Ducks a 4-3 victory over the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night at Honda Center. Zegras zipped a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle and into the net.

Rickard Rakell scored a power-play goal 6:33 into the game, knocking home a rebound of Ryan Getzlaf’s perimeter shot for a 1-0 lead, the first time the Ducks had scored first in three games. They gave up the first goal in losses to the New York Islanders on Sunday and to the Kings on Friday.

Getzlaf had three assists.

Nick Foligno countered for the Bruins at 8:15 of the first period, deflecting a perimeter shot from Brandon Carlo past Ducks goaltender John Gibson. Foligno had an eventful first period, fighting Sam Carrick in a rematch of their Jan. 25 bout in Boston’s TD Garden, won by Carrick.

What seemed like an evenly-played first period then tilted in the Ducks’ direction in the closing minutes, thanks to a couple of lapses by the Bruins. First, a turnover led to Isac Lundestrom’s goal that made it 2-1 at 17:53. A coverage breakdown led to Adam Henrique’s goal and a 3-1 lead at 19:03.

It was the Ducks’ first lead by the end of a first period since they seized a 3-0 lead en route to a 7-4 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Feb. 19. They trailed in each of their next three games, including by matching scores of 1-0 during losses to the Islanders and Kings.

Second periods had been nightmarish of late for the Ducks, but they generated some sustained momentum after failing to score on an abbreviated power play in the second period. They maintained possession of the puck long after the power play expired, but they couldn’t pad their 3-1 lead.

Moments later, Carlo beat Gibson with a shot from the perimeter that Gibson seemed to have snared, only to see it trickle behind him and across the goal line, cutting the Ducks’ lead to 3-2 at 11:15 of the second. Foligno assisted on the goal, giving him a Gordie Howe hat trick.

The Ducks managed to preserve their one-goal lead heading into the third period, with Gibson making several excellent saves, none better than his denial of a hard-charging Foligno. But their good fortune and their lead came to an end in the opening minutes of the third period.

David Pastrnak tied the score 3-3 with a shot that ricocheted off the skates of Brendan Guhle and then Carrick only 1:52 into the third. Gibson’s body language indicated his exasperation. There was nothing he could have done to prevent the pinballing shot from entering his net.

Gibson returned to the lineup after sitting out Sunday because of what the Ducks said was an illness unrelated to COVID-19. He had been run down since the All-Star break and needed a break after he had given up four goals or more in each of his five starts after appearing in the Feb. 5 game.

More to come on this story.

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