McTavish snaps drought, earns Ducks another comeback in Vancouver

VANCOUVER, B.C. – The Anaheim Ducks certainly manage to make things harder on themselves, but as it is most nights, the Ducks found a way through.

Despite allowing the first goal for the 13th time in 15 games since the Olympic break and to the last-place Vancouver Canucks of all teams, the first team eliminated from playoff contention, Mason McTavish broke his 14-game scoring drought and a 3-3 tie in the third period, and the Ducks clung on to a 5-3 victory on Tuesday at Rogers Arena.

John Carlson registered three assists, Mikael Granlund netted two goals and Lukáš Dostál stopped 27 shots, as Anaheim opened up a five-point lead on top of the Pacific Division with 11 games to go.

“Well, we weren't behind (late),” Ducks coach Joel Quenneville said. “Certainly, it was pretty hectic there in the last part of the game. We do some things to change the momentum of a game that we have it. We're doing the right things, and then we try things that don't lead to success, and we get them excited, and they score, and all of a sudden, it's another ball game. We got to play the full 60, it seems like night and night out, but I thought we hung in there at the end and did a good job.”

Anaheim gave up the opening goal for the 45th time this season–tied with Nashville for second-most in the league just behind Philadelphia with 46–and the Ducks surged back for their co-league-leading 24th comeback victory.

“I think it's a little bit of everything, obviously,” Carlson said. “I think there's times we come up flat since I've been here. There's, like, tonight, I didn't think it was too bad. Starts are big. It's good to have a little magic in here, and we're not out of games, and we can reach back and find some goals when we need them, and that's a huge asset to have. But I'd like to see us start out with the lead and start wearing some teams down a little bit more, too.”

The Ducks (40-27-4, 84 points) built a slightly bigger gap over Edmonton’s Connor McDavid and the “pillow fight” Pacific Division with Anaheim’s first 40-win season since 2017-18.

The Oilers (35-28-9, 79 points) won in Utah to leapfrog into second place over Vegas (32-26-14, 78 points), which lost in Winnipeg. Anaheim has one game in hand on both clubs.

Anaheim continues its three-game Western Canadian trip in Calgary on Thursday and finishes on Saturday in Edmonton. The Sporting Tribune will have ongoing live coverage from Calgary and Edmonton this week.

Monkey off Mason McTavish

The recent struggles of the Ducks supposed cornerstone No. 2 center had been legion entering this road trip.

On Sunday, McTavish, who signed a six-year, $7 million per season contract after a training camp holdout in September, registered just his third assist in 14 games without a goal. That came just two games after his first two career healthy scratches following a stretch where he went from second-line center to fourth-line winger.

Now, when the Ducks need their man to get going the most, McTavish has registered points in back-to-back games, including his first goal in 15 games–the game-winning snipe on Tuesday in Vancouver.

“It's been a while, so, it's nice to get one,” McTavish said. “It's a great feeling, for sure.”

With a 3-3 tie five minutes into the third period, McTavish exited the defensive zone on the rush and dished to Jackson LaCombe down the left side. LaCombe spun just inside the circle and dropped the puck to a charging McTavish, and the 23-year-old ripped a shot far glove to snap his drought and put Anaheim on top.

“It's been pretty hard,” McTavish said. “It's been a tough couple weeks, stretch of games for me. So, it was nice to get that win for sure.”

McTavish ended up as a plus-two on the night with three shots in 12:42 of ice time.

“It was a great shot, and I thought he had a good game overall,” Quenneville said. “I thought that line was effective in a lot of ways. Last game as well. I thought he had the puck on his stick a lot more, and made some plays, and obviously, that was a great play on the rush.”

John Carlson Contributions

The former Washington Capital put up his most involved game as a Ducks in his fifth game donning the orange sweater.

Carlson collected three assists, including a primary helper on Anaheim’s first goal of the game, and skated a team-high 27 shifts and 24:01 time-on-ice. It was Carlson’s first three-point night since Dec. 18 and first three-assist game since Nov. 19.

“Getting used to some things. Getting used to some players, little things like that,” Carlson said of his early tenure, “but otherwise, it's a great group of guys that have welcomed me. I feel comfortable and confident in here and it's a fun team.”

The offense certainly helps him fit in with the group–both he and LaCombe hit the 50-point mark with their assists tonight, making six Ducks over that threshold–but it’s that all that time on the back-end paired with Pavel Mintyukov that is maybe most valuable to shifting the Ducks’ outlook with the 36-year-old in the fold.

“Very cool,” Quenneville said. “He had a really good game. He knows when it's time to jump into play or play recognition at the point. Shots getting through, and his gap is solid. Patience with the puck coming out, and direct passes. Just settles us down a lot.”

That calmness really comes through, particularly at the start of the second and third periods.

With the Ducks down after another frustrating first period, it was Carlson that turned a great play recognition by Beckett Sennecke into a scoring chance. Smoothly entering the zone alongside Alex Killorn, he delayed to freeze the Canucks defense and slid the puck to Killorn, who finished with ease to tie the game.

Anaheim opened the third period on a two-man advantage, and with Carlson patrolling the point on the Ducks’ top unit, he sprung the play that led to Granlund’s go-ahead goal.

“He's unreal. So much poise,” McTavish said. “So smart with the puck, joins the play. Great defensively. He pretty much does it all. He's been unreal.”

Radko Gudas Returns

Following a five-game suspension for kneeing Toronto’s Auston Matthews, Ducks captain Radko Gudas rejoined the line-up on Tuesday.

Gudas spoke with remorse on the incident and said he had spoken with Matthews, who is out for the remainder of the season following MCL surgery, after the play.

“I respect the league’s decision. I didn’t like the point of contact either,” Gudas said at morning skate. “I gotta respect, I gotta learn, I gotta be better as a hockey player. I never want to go out and hurt anybody. It’s very unfortunate… Never want to see anybody get hurt. I feel very terribly about that.”

The league’s Department of Player determined that Gudas had committed to a full body check on Matthews, but when Matthews went to avoid the hit, Gudas shifted towards the Toronto captain, which resulted in Gudas’ leading knee hitting Matthews’ trailing knee and the injury.

Gudas concurred with that assessment of things.

“I really hate the way it ended up, the point of contact, I'm not a fan of that,” Gudas said. “I never want to injure anybody out there. It's a hard fought game. I never want to go there and hurt anybody. I feel terrible about the outcome. Just committed to the play. And unfortunately, that was the point of contact.”

The suspension was the fifth in Gudas’ career, but despite his reputation for big borderline collisions, it was his first league discipline in seven seasons and first for a hit in a decade.

“I tried to stay on the good side. I stayed for a long time,” Gudas said. “Over seven years since my last incident, so I'm doing everything in my power to stay away, to stay on the right side, to play hard, be a good side of it, and that's the process that went down.”

Gudas returned to the Ducks line-up on his usual right side of the third defensive pair with right-handed rookie Ian Moore shifted over to the left side. Olen Zellweger was a healthy scratch to clear the way for Gudas’ return.

The 35-year-old Czech played 15 minutes even, the lowest of the Ducks six defensemen, and registered three hits.

“Didn’t like watching my team as it’s the hardest time of the season,” Gudas said. “It was really hard to watch them. Excited to get back, focus on the team, focus on the task ahead of us.”

The Vancouver crowd dropped in some “boo’s” early in the game whenever Gudas touched the puck. Not for the Matthews hit, but most likely for his last controversial hit, when he knocked Team Canada captain Sidney Crosby out of the Olympics in Milan last month.

Playoff Magic Numbers

At (40-27-4) 84 points, 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 13.

Los Angeles (28-25-18, 74 points), Seattle (31-29-10, 72 points) Winnipeg (30-29-12, 72 points) and San Jose (32-31-6, 70 points) are those first teams out. If the Kings and Kraken won their remaining games, they would get to 96 points, but Seattle has the regulation wins tiebreaker on Anaheim. The Jets can get to 94 points, and Sharks can get to 96 points.

Anaheim’s magic number to clinch the Pacific Division title is 16, with Edmonton capable of hitting 99 points and holding the regulation wins tiebreaker.