NASHVILLE – It was nearly a calamitous thud to finish the regular season for the Anaheim Ducks, but like they’d done so many times before, the Ducks rallied for an emphatic exclamation point heading into their first postseason since 2018.
Anaheim had dropped a five-point lead in the Pacific Division with losses in eight of their previous nine games, and after trailing 4-3 into the third period, Tristan Luneau tied the game and Troy Terry put the Ducks ahead with three minutes to go in a 5-4 road win over the Nashville Predators on Thursday at Bridgestone Arena.
The Ducks will now open the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Edmonton Oilers with Game 1 of the first round on Monday.
“It felt like it was just a representation of our team pushing,” Terry told the Victory+ broadcast on his game-winning goal. “We had a lot of really good looks. They’re goalie played really well. It just felt a big relief for myself and the team.”
Cutter Gauthier scored his 41st goal of the season for a 1-0 lead. Jackson LaCombe and Alex Killorn scored to put Anaheim back ahead, 3-2, but the Predators scored twice on the power play, including the go-ahead goal by Steven Stamkos in the second period before Anaheim’s comeback.
Ville Husso made 17 saves, including two in the final nine seconds. Ducks outshot Nashville, 40-21, as they matched a franchise record with 26 comeback victories and set a team record for total goals in a season. Terry's game-winning goal with three minutes left was the Ducks' 19th game-tying or go-ahead goal in the final five minutes this season--an NHL record
“It was a great feeling. It was one of those games,” Killorn told the Victory+ broadcast. “We’re happy we won this game. We didn’t want to go to Colorado.”
Anaheim avoided the Presidents Trophy-winning Avalanche by winning to stay ahead of the wild-card Los Angeles Kings, who will head to Denver instead on Sunday.
Despite earning just six of a possible 20 points in the final 10 games of the season, the Ducks (43-33-6, 92 points) managed to stay in the top three of the Pacific Division, but Edmonton (41-30-11, 93 points) kept ahead of Anaheim and holds home ice in their first round series. This will be the third postseason meeting between the clubs with the Ducks winning a seven-game series in 2017 and the Oilers taking the 2006 Western Conference Final in five games.
The Ducks and back-to-back Western Conference champion Oilers combined for 28 goals in three games this season. Edmonton won two of three, with Anaheim erasing a two-goal deficit with a four-goal third period for a 6-5 win in the first game out of the Olympic break on Feb. 25.
Even with the late-season slide, the Ducks return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in eight years.
“Just happy. It’s made it worth it,” Terry told the Victory+ broadcast. “There’s been times, I know the fans have felt it, pretty much since I’ve got here. They ebbs and flows… You can see it all coming together. It makes it worth it for me to be here through the whole thing. I’m excited for our fans. I’m excited for our team.”
Cutter Gauthier
With his 41st goal of the season, Gauthier moved into sole possession of 10th place for most goals in a single season in Ducks history. There are only three Anaheim players with more goals in a single season: Corey Perry, Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya.
Gauthier finished the season as the Ducks’ points leader with 69 points, falling just one point short of Anaheim’s first 70-point scorer since 2016-17 (Ryan Getzlaf, 73 points).
The sophomore is on a six-game point streak, with three goals in three games following his return from an upper-body injury.
Special Teams
Anaheim floundered on special teams over the final stretch of the season.
The Ducks penalty kill allowed 10 goals in 25 opportunities in the final 10 games of the season–a 60% kill rate. Seattle’s league-worst penalty kill posted a 71.7% kill rate over 82 games.
Nashville took advantage on two of three power plays on Thursday. Filip Forsberg scored on a deflection in the middle of the slot to tie the game in the first period, and Steven Stamkos finished off a cross-crease one-timer to put the Predators ahead in the second period.
Anaheim did finish off the regular season on the power play on a high note. Terry drew a four-minute double-minor for a bloody high stick to the face–yet another for Terry in his career–and on the ensuing advantage, the 28-year-old popped in the eventual game-winner off a rebound in front.
The Ducks scored on seven of 38 power plays in the final 10 games–an 18% conversion rate. Anaheim finished the season with an 18.6% conversion rate, 23rd in the NHL.
Tristan Luneau
After spending all season with AHL San Diego, right-handed defenseman Tristan Luneau was called up to make his season debut in the season finale in Nashville. All year with the Gulls, Luneau was paired with left-hander Tyson Hinds, and the two were again together on the Ducks blue line.
Radko Gudas was out with a maintenance day for his recent lower-body injury, Olen Zellweger and Drew Helleson were healthy scratches and Ian Moore was still up at forward. This opened the opportunity for Luneau on Thursday.
Luneau played the lowest ice time among the six defensemen (11:37), with all his time on ice at five-on-five. However, the 22-year-old was instrumental in the comeback.
Luneau stopped up a Nashville play high in the zone, joined the ensuing rush and crashed the crease to finish off a play from Mikael Granlund to tie the game, 4-4, in the third period.
With Luneau on the ice, the Ducks earned 75.68% of shot attempts and 68.39% of expected goals.
This was Luneau’s 14th career NHL game over the last three seasons with his second career NHL goal.
Now the question remains, was this a one-game fill-in for Luneau and will the dynamic right-hander rejoin AHL San Diego for their Calder Cup Playoff run? Or did the 22-year-old earn a Stanley Cup Playoff roster spot with Anaheim?