Ducks, Terry find another magic moment in OT comeback win over Sabres

ANAHEIM, Calif. – As the regular season charges toward its epic conclusion, each game has become about moments for the Anaheim Ducks.

Moments of opportunity. Moments of despair. Moments of greatness.

With the rest of the Pacific Division stumbling, the Ducks have been given opportunities to reach heights not seen in nearly a decade in Orange County, and despite falling into emotional troughs game after game, Anaheim keeps finding touches of greatness to climb itself higher.

After allowing the first goal again and then letting a two-goal third-period lead slip away, Mikael Granlund scored yet another final-minute Ducks game-tying goal, and Troy Terry’s singularly determined effort in overtime sent Anaheim to a 6-5 win over the Atlantic Division-leading Buffalo Sabres on Sunday at Honda Center.

“I’ve been here for eight years now,” Terry, the longest-tenured member of the Ducks, said. “There’s a lot of us that have been through this. We’ve got young guys. Guys that have won. We’ve been dying to play in these games.”

“It’s March, and every point, every game matters, especially with the tight race. We’re trying to stay in the moment and relish being in those moments and hopefully keep learning along the way, like how to not give up those leads.”

Chris Kreider and Jackson LaCombe netted power play goals, and Beckett Sennecke scored his 21st goal of the season to retake the rookie points lead. Ville Husso made 24 saves in the win.

With the Ducks winning in Utah on Friday and the rest of the Pacific Division going 0-for-6 on both Thursday and Saturday, Anaheim has opened up a four-point lead in the Pacific Division with their highest standings point total (82) since 2017-18, the last time the Ducks qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

“We want to make sure that we're moving ahead,” Ducks coach Joel Quenneville said. “I think we helped ourselves by the last two games coming up with points that look like we're in tough spots, and then some of the things that were going on along in our division.”

“So it was, like, okay, we helped ourselves, but one day at a time before we, you know, you don't want to get too excited. We know we have a lot of work to do. We still gotta work on being a better team in our team game. I felt the last couple of games we were fortunate.”

Anaheim (39-27-4, 82 points) has 12 games remaining with a game in hand on second-place Vegas (32-25-14, 78 points) and third-place Edmonton (34-28-9, 77 points).

The Ducks now head out on a three-game Western Canadian trip beginning in Vancouver on Tuesday. The Sporting Tribune will have live coverage from Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton this week.

Terry Time

Despite missing 20 games since Jan. 6 on two stints with a recurring upper-body injury, Troy Terry has remained consistent, clutch and on a career-high points pace.

Terry came back to the line-up just four games ago, but the 28-year-old still has seven points in those four games and 16 points in his last 12 games. Terry has 51 points in 50 games, which would be a career-high 84-point pace for a full 82-game season.

“He has the puck a lot,” Joel Quenneville said. “There's a possession game that adds to you're not your end as much, but I still think he's finding that part of the game. We had a couple shifts across the board tonight, where, like, every line that had some exposure in our own end, extended shift. But against a team that hangs onto the puck and has skills like that, it's not gonna be easy for anybody, but I still think that Troy's improving that part of his game.”

With Terry crossing the 50-point plateau, that marked the first time since 2016-17 that the Ducks had four 50-point players on the team. Cutter Gauthier, Leo Carlsson and Beckett Sennecke all are past 50 points this season.

Anaheim has had just two 50-point scorers in each of the last four previous seasons, and Terry has now hit the mark in five consecutive campaigns.

Terry’s overtime winner was the sixth of his career, which tied him with Teemu Selane and Corey Perry for third-most in team history. Only Ryan Getzlaf (11) and Rickard Rakell (seven) have more.

The overtime winner was also his sixth point on game-tying or game-winning goals in the final two minutes and overtime this season. Terry has scored 23 of his 51 points in the third period and overtime.

Scourge of Starts; Climax of Comebacks

It’s a story told far too many times this season, but the Ducks keep writing it.

Anaheim allowed the first goal for the 12th time in 14 games since the Olympic break and the 44rd time this season (third-most in the NHL).

The Ducks then surged back ahead only to give up the lead again, but Anaheim still put together its co-league-leading 23rd comeback victory and 10th third-period comeback victory, another co-league high.

“We still need to have better starts,” Terry said. “I feel like we weren’t ready from the start again. After the first five minutes or so, we played a really good game, and that’s a good hockey team. That’s the next step for us is the good starts and holding onto the leads.”

“I don't know how many times we've done that this year, but it's an alarming number,” Quenneville said, “but it's still not the recipe for success. The 4-2 (lead) at the start of the period, that should have been something we should have nailed down and built off it.”

Somehow through all of that, Anaheim is now 23-0-0 when leading after two periods.

The Ducks maintained that perfect number thanks to another late miracle, this time on the stick of Mikael Granlund.

Granlund’s game-tying marker was Anaheim’s eighth game-tying goal in the final two minutes, which is a league high and the most through 70 games of a season in NHL history. No other team has scored more than six through this point of a season. The Ducks’ previous full-season record was seven in 2009-10.

Playoff Magic Numbers

With the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars clinching the first Stanley Cup Playoff spots this season, eyes can finally turn towards when clinching scenarios kick in for Anaheim.

The Ducks’ magic number (combined number of points won by Anaheim and lost by the first team out of a playoff spot) to clinch its first playoff berth since 2018 is 16.

Los Angeles (28-25-17, 73 points), Seattle (31-29-9, 71 points) and San Jose (32-30-6, 70 points) are those first teams out. If the Kings and Kraken won their remaining games, they would get to 97 points, but Seattle has the regulation wins tiebreaker on Anaheim. The Sharks can get to 98 points.

Anaheim’s magic number to clinch the Pacific Division title is 19, with Vegas capable of hitting 100 points and holding the regulation wins tiebreaker.