ANAHEIM — No lead – for or against – is safe when the Ducks are on the ice.
They’ve either overturned or retroceded at least one multi-goal lead in each of their past four games, including a two-tally advantage for the Vancouver Canucks, whom they rallied to defeat, 5-2, on Thursday night at Honda Center in their first home game in 3½ weeks.
Five unanswered goals earned the Ducks their fifth consecutive home win, moving them to 8-1-1 in their past 10 games at the arena formerly known as The Pond. They’ve secured 17 of their last 22 possible points overall – their most productive stretch of play since November 2021 – and are tied with the Carolina Hurricanes for the NHL lead in multi-goal comeback wins at home (four).
For Vancouver, its three-game win streak came to an end, leaving three teams within three points of the Canucks for the final wild-card playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Ducks (26-25-7, 59 points) – on pace for a 24-point improvement in the standings from last season – now sit six points back as they try to end a playoff drought that dates to 2018.
Ryan Strome and Troy Terry combined for six points, notching a goal and two assists apiece. Cutter Gauthier, Frank Vatrano and Jackson LaCombe all scored goals, while Mason McTavish and Isac Lundeström each chipped in two assists. Lukáš Dostál held the Ducks in the game with 22 saves.
For Vancouver, Tyler Myers scored a goal and assisted on one by Pius Suter in the first period. Arturs Silovs stopped 20 of 24 shots.
The final 20 minutes of the match tested Dostál early during a power play, but gradually the Ducks seized control.
Just 4:14 showed on the clock when LaCombe surveyed the slot patiently and roofed a shot that iced the victory and got him into double digits for the season. All four goals against the goalie were highlight reel-worthy, with Vatrano noting that “guys were seeing the net well.” Terry’s 17th goal of the season was launched into the vacated cage with 2:06 to play, sending the crowd home with a decisive win and free chicken to boot.
“It’s nice to score [five goals], my kids are going to be excited that there’s free chicken now. That’s all I get told at home,” Strome joked. “At this time of year, we don’t care if it’s 2-1 or 5-2 … you’re seeing contributions from everybody and a lot of selfless acts out there.”
In the second period, the Ducks turned the tilt completely by flipping a two-goal deficit into a one-goal edge by the second intermission, scoring at 5:27, 9:09 and 18:41.
The Ducks’ top line cycled the puck with Terry flicking a low-flying shot that created a recovery for Strome, who found Vatrano for a far-side one-timer from the left faceoff dot. Vatrano’s 18th goal of the year sliced the Ducks’ deficit in half.
“They got us going, just by putting the puck deep and getting it back,” Coach Greg Cronin said of his go-to trio. “They had a couple offensive-zone shifts in the second period that allowed us to get a lot of energy.”
They leveled the count when Gauthier, who tied for the game high with four shots on goal Thursday, delivered a counterpunch for his 12th goal of the season. He skated into Lundeström’s lead pass and dashed ahead to rip yet another far-side shot from the left dot.
“He can look like he’s not involved in the game, and then, the next thing you know, you see his speed and his shot, and, bang, he’s got that game-breaking ability,” Strome said.
Strome, who had been visible all night, gave the hosts their first lead. His timely break into a skating lane and McTavish’s authoritative pass synergized perfectly to turn a rush without numbers into a go-ahead goal, Strome’s ninth.
The Ducks buzzed early and fell flat later in the first period, bookending the frame with goals against at the 3:17 and 16:52 marks.
After scoring two power-play goals for the first time in about 14 weeks in Buffalo, the Ducks had the game’s first power play on Thursday. Not only did they fail to convert, but as Myers’ penalty expired, Gauthier tried to jam a puck into the slot with an off-balance heave, a pass that was effortlessly disrupted to key a counterattack. Myers exited the box, received the puck and wrapped up the rush with a missile from high in the right circle to take a 1-0 lead.
Gauthier nearly redeemed himself instantaneously with a potent shot, but Silovs made a glove save that was later one-upped by Dostál’s ensnaring of Quinn Hughes’ dangerous against-the-grain wrister from the left dot.
Myers factored centrally into the Canucks’ second goal, this time with a primary assist. Again he activated, gliding to the puck atop the right circle and weaving his way below the goal line. He circled the net, selling a pass high with his eyes before zipping a centering feed that Suter redirected through the wickets of Dostál.
Dostál stopped all 17 shots fired at him during the rest of the contest, enabling the Ducks to find their footing and storm back for a victory.
“He was terrific. Goalies are game managers, and I thought he managed the puck well,” Cronin said. “He made the big saves when he needed to. He’s probably been our best player, him and (John Gibson), the entire year.”
BY THE NUMBERS
Vancouver dropped to 0-16-4 when trailing at the second intermission, while the Ducks are now 15-2-2 when leading after 40 minutes despite blowing a late lead in Buffalo on Tuesday.
UP NEXT
The Ducks host the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday at 7 p.m.