Ducks rally for a victory

For much of Wednesday night, the Ducks were flailing around and misfiring on seemingly every scoring chance they had against a goaltender who had bedeviled them in the past.

And it appeared as if they’d let an even bigger opportunity get away as the two main contenders for the Pacific Division title, Dallas and San Jose, lost.

Instead, the Ducks, kept working, kept firing and wound up relying on their skill.

Rob Niedermayer tied the score on a deflection midway through the third period and Jean-Sebastien Giguere foiled all three shootout attempts by the Colorado Avalanche in a 3-2 victory that allowed the Ducks to gain ground in the division race at the Honda Center.

Corey Perry’s shootout tally allowed the Ducks (34-23-7) to pull within four points of first-place Dallas and extended their lead over San Jose to five points for second place.

The Ducks were certainly aware of the chance to pick up ground on their competitors.

“Not only that but we keep Colorado behind us as well,” defenseman Chris Pronger said. “Any time a team is chasing you, you want to keep them as far down as possible. Knowing San Jose was playing today and losing certainly gives us a little bit of a cushion as well.”

Colorado goalie Peter Budaj has been a tough nut for the Ducks to crack in recent years.

On Dec. 19 at Anaheim, Budaj made a season-high 36 saves as the Ducks needed Mathieu Schneider’s goal in overtime to escape with a 2-1 win.

Last season, Budaj beat the Ducks in both his starts against them, including one shutout.

“Every time we play him, he seems to play huge against us,” Niedermayer said.

Colorado grabbed a 2-1 lead on goals by Jeff Finger and Andrew Brunette in the second period. The Ducks responded by turning their game up a notch in the third period but couldn’t hit the net on several prime scoring chances or couldn’t connect on passes when they had Budaj out of position.

When they did put a shot on net, Budaj stopped most of them until Niedermayer changed the Ducks’ fortunes with a deft use of his stick.

Chris Pronger jumped up to keep a clearing pass by the Avalanche in the offensive zone and ripped a shot toward the net. Niedermayer managed to get his stick on Pronger’s shot in front of Budaj, altering the puck enough to get it by the screened goalie.

“Prongs is a pretty heady guy back there,” Niedermayer said. “When you give him time to make a play, he does. He’s one of the best at getting his shots away and getting them on the net.

“He gave us forwards a little bit more time to get in front of the goalie. Luckily I got a stick on it.”

Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle credited his team for rising to the challenge in the third.

“It was a test of their will and we had a lot of will in the third period,” he said. “That’s a huge positive for our group. I didn’t have to say much.”

Teemu Selanne got his second goal and his first at home in his eighth game since returning to the Ducks when he punched in a nice feed from Chris Kunitz, who got the handle on a bouncing puck and shoveled it back between his legs.

The Ducks lost center Ryan Carter to a bruised right forearm in the first period when he got checked by Finger. Center Todd Marchant suffered a bruised shoulder in the second period and didn’t return. Carter and Marchant will undergo an MRI exam today to determine the extent of each injury.

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eric.stephens@latimes.com