ANAHEIM — The Ducks had the opportunity to climb into first place in the Pacific Division with a win on Tuesday night at Honda Center. There was but one obstacle, hockey’s most formidable team, the Colorado Avalanche, who dispatched their hosts, 5-1, to complete a SoCal sweep on consecutive nigh ts. The Avs won their third straight decision and their fifth in the past six games. The Ducks stumbled for just the third time in their last 15 outings and the first time in nine home games. They lost the season series to Colorado, 2-1, after splitting two games in Denver. “In a lot of these games, we’ve been able to come back. But against a team like that, you can’t really spot them two goals, they’re just too good,” forward Alex Killorn said. Cutter Gauthier scored the Ducks’ lone goal. Lukáš Dostál made 21 saves. Cale Makar figured into the first three goals for Colorado. He scored one, set up another by Parker Kelly, who later tacked on a second goal, and assisted on a power-play marker from Martin Nečas. Captain Gabriel Landeskog also tallied. Brock Nelson and Jack Drury picked up two assists apiece, and Scott Wedgewood stopped 27 shots. Just 4:35 into the third period, the Avs iced their cake before slathering on a fifth goal with 9:54 to play. Kelly notched his second goal of the game after two shots generated two rebounds, with Dostál unable to cover the second one with his glove. Drury dug the puck out, dipped behind the net and found Kelly in front unmarked. Colorado had seized a 4-1 advantage after a turnover inside the Ducks’ offensive blue line. Their counterattack culminated in Nathan MacKinnon finding Landeskog for a one-time blast that put the game out of reach. The assist took MacKinnon across the 100-point threshold, and he trails only Edmonton’s Connor McDavid in the Art Ross race. In the second period, the Ducks nearly scored but instead ended up killing a penalty. Soon after, they reduced their deficit by half, 4:50 into the middle frame, only to go down by two anew at the 15:03 mark. Makar used his silky skating and precise passing in equal measure to set up a laser from above the left circle by Kelly, stretching the Avs’ lead to 3-1. “I thought the game was even at that point, down 2-1 anything could happen, and that goal seemed to take the edge off of us,” Ducks coach Joel Quenneville said. Earlier, Chris Kreider was sent off for goalie interference, nullifying a Ducks’ goal, even though it was Wedgewood who initiated contact with the winger. Twenty seconds after the kill, Leo Carlsson backed up the defense before Kreider generated a rebound off the rush. A failed clearing attempt by Gavin Brindley came to Jackson LaCombe. He skated forward, forcing Wedgewood to challenge and leaving a wide-open net for Gauthier after LaCombe found him through a seam. The goal put him one shy of 30 this season. The Ducks mounted the near-misses and shots on goal early, eight to the Avs’ two, but it was Colorado getting the stone rolling, 11:33 into the tilt. They added a power-play goal at 14:05 to carry a 2-0 lead into the break. “After the first 10 minutes of the game, I was not just happy but really happy with our game,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. Nečas extended their edge during the Avs’ first power play of the match with a one-timer from high in the right circle off a seam pass from Nelson. Nelson figured centrally into the first goal as well, stealing the puck back on the forecheck before combining with Makar to set up Valeri Nichushkin on the backdoor. The puck went wide to Makar, who weaved from below the goal line into the slot to score off a far-side wrister. “He made one of those plays that not too many defensemen are gonna make and have that patience coming from behind the net and around. But we could have played that better, too,” Quenneville said. The Ducks haven’t scored first since returning from the Olympic break. “Tonight we had the start we wanted, we generated possession and we had two solid power plays,” Queenville said. “Obviously, playing from behind is not, traditionally, winning hockey.” They will be right back at it on Wednesday night, when they host the New York Islanders. Related Articles NHL trade deadline: Ducks are well-positioned to be buyers Ducks finally get to host league-leading Avalanche Ducks edge Flames in shootout Ducks look to extend dramatic post-Olympic streak Ducks erase another 2-goal deficit, beat Winnipeg in OT ...read more read less