Ducks continue offensive surge, outlast Seattle in 10-goal affair

SEATTLE – The Anaheim Ducks hit offensive heights the franchise hasn’t seen in nearly a decade, as the Anaheim offense remained scalding hot in Seattle.

The Ducks scored five or more goals for the third consecutive game for the first time since February 2016, including a Mason McTavish tally for a fourth straight game, as the Ducks outlasted Seattle, 6-4, on Tuesday.

The Kraken scored three goals in the first period, and the Ducks scored three goals in the second period. Both teams combined to score five goals on the game’s first 12 shots.

“I think at the start of the year we weren’t really connected,” McTavish said on the Victory+ broadcast. “Then about halfway through we started getting a lot more connected. I don’t think it was anything to do with how we were competing. We always do that.

“Now, just the last 10 games or so, I feel like it’s just kind of gone in for guys.”

McTavish, who was named the NHL's Second Star of the Week for five goals in three games last week, recorded multiple points for the third consecutive game, while Troy Terry picked up a point for the fourth straight game with the game’s opening goal. Cutter Gauthier, Robby Fabbri, Jackson LaCombe and Frank Vatrano also found the back of the net for Anaheim.

Despite 16 goals in their last three games, the Ducks are still last in the NHL in goals scored.

Lukáš Dostál made 26 saves in the victory.

"We’ve been waiting for it for a while," Ryan Strome said on the broadcast. "We’ve got a lot of skill in our lineup. I think you’re seeing guys with confidence right now. At times, we’ve had groups of guys that have been confident. I think collectively through our lineup we’re getting contributions everywhere, and it seems like everyone’s got that confidence right now."

Eeli Tolvanen, Mitchell Stephens, Jaden Schwartz and Shane Wright scored for Seattle. Former Duck Brandon Montour recorded two assists.

Philip Grubauer made 17 saves in the loss.

Anaheim has won three straight games and is 20-0-2 when scoring three or more goals. 

The Ducks (21-23-6, 48 points) trail Calgary (24-17-7, 55 points) by seven points for the final wild card playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Ducks travel to Calgary on Thursday.

Both teams were off and running early on Tuesday, as Anaheim and Seattle combined for five goals on the first 12 shots of the game.

Anaheim grabbed the lead on an absolute beauty of a passing sequence. Frank Vatrano held the puck just inside the blueline and spun the puck low to Ryan Strome, who fed across to Terry. The Ducks leading scorer buried it top shelf for the opening strike, 1-0.

Five minutes later, a former Duck set up the first tying tally for Seattle.

Brandon Montour pinched down the right boards to strip Robby Fabbri and circled behind the net. Montour sent it high in the zone for Tolvanen to step into a slap shot to equalize, 1-1.

Less than two minutes later, Seattle took the lead, as Stephens spun away from Jansen Harkins below the goal line and found space between Dostál’s body on a backhand wraparound, 2-1.

Three minutes later, the Ducks brought the game back level on the rush.

Gauthier pressured high in the defensive zone, and Fabbri got to the loose puck to chip it off the glass to a streaking Gauthier. The 21-year-old rookie took the shot on a two-on-one and followed up his own rebound with a backhand finish, 2-2.

Another two minutes later, it was Seattle getting out on the rush to again grab the lead.

Pavel Mintyukov stepped up on Matty Beniers in the neutral zone, but the Ducks defenseman couldn’t disrupt the play, allowing a two-on-one behind. Kappo Kakko fed through Jacob Trouba to Jaden Schwartz racing into the zone to finish the go-ahead score, 3-2.

The Ducks were held without a shot on one-and-a-half power plays to end the period, including a phenomenal stop by Grubauer on a Trevor Zegras one-timer in a flurry following the first man-advantage.

As the Ducks power play expired to open the second period, McTavish kept up his hot streak.

Kraken left McTavish wide open, and Strome found him for a piercing one-timer to tie the game up one more time, 3-3.

This was McTavish’s 50th career goal making him just the second player in Ducks history to hit that mark at age 21 or younger. The first was Hall-of-Famer Paul Kariya, who netted 68 goals by that age.

“I didn’t know that, that’s really cool,” McTavish said. “Obviously, he’s a Hall-of-Fame player, and someone all of our teammates look up to. It’s kind of cool to be talked about in the same breath as him.”

Anaheim retook the lead five minutes later, as McTavish made an incredible read to force a turnover and feed Fabbri for a one-timer on the spot McTavish had just hit his.

The Ducks doubled their lead just over a minute later, as LaCombe stepped up for a laser off the entry of the zone for the 5-3 lead.

Dostál stopped all 12 Seattle shots in the period, including a handful of odd-man opportunities, to maintain the two-goal lead into the third period.

The Kraken clawed one goal back on the power play seven minutes into the third period, as Wright popped home a rebound to cut the lead to one, 5-4.