ANAHEIM — The Ducks made a commitment to Frank Vatrano on Sunday morning with a three-year contract extension and he rewarded them on Sunday evening, pouring in three points during a 4-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning at Honda Center.
It was the Ducks’ fourth win in their past five games with all four coming against quality opponents. Tampa Bay remained on track to make the playoffs for a 12th straight season, and it has won two Stanley Cups and four Eastern Conference crowns during that run. That didn’t stop them, however, from losing to both Southern California franchises in the span of 23 hours.
Vatrano assisted on Troy Terry’s goal and scored two of his own. Jackson LaCombe also found the back of the net and Ryan Strome contributed two assists. John Gibson repelled 36 of 37 shots to earn his 200th career victory.
Jake Guentzel tallied the solitary Tampa Bay goal while backup goalie Jonas Johansson made 22 of 25 saves.
Coach Greg Cronin was among those who lauded Gibson’s play through grueling stretches of the second and third periods, but Vatrano’s extended time in Orange County kept the spotlight on the 30-year-old winger.
“He’s a guy that throws his body in front of 100 mph slap shots and he’ll do whatever he can for our team,” Terry said. “When you mix that with his pure goal-scoring ability, his speed and how he plays every game, he’s someone that is a good teammate and someone that sets a standard here for our team, for our young guys to see what it is to be a pro every night.”
Vatrano’s impact was instantaneous in a first period during which the Ducks recorded the first eight shots on net. He picked up an assist on Terry’s goal 5:24 into the game, took a penalty at 13:45 that led to a flawless penalty kill and then scored a goal with 2:57 displayed on the first-period clock. Behind all that, the Ducks held a 2-0 lead at the first intermission.
Vatrano’s outlet pass sprung Strome, who strode ahead before delivering a drop pass to Terry. Terry sold a pass to Vatrano, who was on his left, with his eyes, but delivered a short-side snipe to his right for his team-topping 14th goal of 2024-25.
After Vatrano was exiled briefly for holding Darren Raddysh’s stick, the Ducks’ PK went to work diligently. The Lightning did not muster a single shot on goal and Brian Dumoulin was as tight to Nikita Kucherov as a pair of extra-small yoga pants.
Vatrano extended the Ducks’ edge to two goals when he tipped the shot of Jacob Trouba, with whom he was also a teammate and friend as members of the New York Rangers, past Johansson. It was Vatrano’s 10th goal of the year but his first in nine games.
In the second period, Tampa Bay earned a second power play, and this time their big guns fired at will to halve the Lightning’s deficit as the match’s midpoint approached. Kucherov had plenty of space this time, drifting above the right circle to slide a pass below the dot to Guentzel, who placed his one-timer precisely to make it 2-1.
“They’re going to get their chances. They’ve got a good team, especially their top six is really skilled,” said Gibson, who was nonchalant about his 200th victory. “But we have confidence in ourselves, whether we’re up or down, that we’re going to be in every game. I think we’ve been showing it here recently, scoring big goals late and holding onto leads.”
The Ducks responded with some near misses as Olen Zellweger’s shot struck Johansson’s mask, Brett Leason dinged the left post and Terry generated a partial breakaway that Johnasson narrowly denied with his blocker. The score, however, remained 2-1 after 40 minutes.
Tampa Bay out-shot the Ducks 18-8 in the second period, and in the third, the Ducks spent some more time on the ropes. They were being out-shot 8-1 at one point and getting trampled analytically while scoring chances were few and far between for 15 minutes.
In the final five minutes, Terry had another partial breakaway and a redirection attempt that went just wide, keying another late-period push.
That got the stone of fate rolling back in the Ducks’ favor, and they cemented their two points when Alex Killorn’s saucer pass to LaCombe allowed him to finish a two-on-one, score his eighth goal of the season and cushion the hosts’ lead to 3-1 with 3:34 remaining.
“That’s another reason I’m proud of this group,” Terry said. “Our ability to realize that those swings are going to happen and instead of letting it make you crumble and just start defending, we kind of broke out of it.”
With 92 seconds to play, Vatrano would seal the Lightning’s fate, fittingly, in a display of unselfishness with his close friend, Strome. Vatrano tried to pass off the free tally to Strome, who sent the puck right back to him for a more poetic finale.
“I wouldn’t be in this position if it wasn’t for the guys in this room. These guys push me every single day to be my very best. We have great relationships, not just on the ice but off the ice,” Vatrano said. “This is one of the best rooms I’ve ever been a part of, and I’m excited for the change here and the culture that we’re trying to build.”