Recap: Ducks Fight Back Against Defending Champs, Fall 5-4 in OT

The Ducks overcame an early two-goal deficit for the second straight day but could not hold on for a big win over the defending champs, falling 5-4 in overtime to the Colorado Avalanche tonight at Honda Center.
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The loss pushed Anaheim's winless skid to 11 games but gave the club points on back-to-back nights. The Ducks fell to 23-45-12 on the season and 12-22-4 on home ice.
Frank Vatrano scored twice for Anaheim, part of a night on which he would set a new career high in points in his first year as a Duck. Adam Henrique and Brett Leason also scored. Cam Fowler, Trevor Zegras, Troy Terry, Kevin Shattenkirk and Ryan Strome tallied assists.
Rookie netminder Lukas Dostal was in strong in net for Anaheim in his 22nd career NHL appearance, stopping 41-of-46 Colorado shots.
Mikko Rantanen and Nathan MacKinnon each scored twice for the Avalanche, who won their fifth straight game and created a two-point lead on Minnesota for first place in the Central Division. J.T. Compher also scored. Goaltender Pavel Francouz made 19 saves.
Colorado buried the only goal of the opening period, as Compher found free space at the backdoor and swatted home a pass from Valeri Nichushkin on the second try from the side of the net.
Compher's goal was his 17th of the season, one shy of his career-high set last year. The 28-year-old pending unrestricted free agent owns personal best totals in points (52), assists (35), power-play goals (five), power-play points (14) and game-winning goals (three).
Nichushkin has assists in back-to-back games and later in the night clinched his first 30-assist season in the NHL.
The Avs would add to the advantage late in the second period, taking a two-goal lead, albeit one that lasted just 77 seconds, on a terrific individual effort by Rantanen. One of the few Avalanche stars to avoid missing time to injury this season, the All-Star winger danced inside the Ducks defense from left wing, eventually using the backhand to beat Dostal to the glove side.
Rantanen, who recently became the third Finnish-born NHLer to score 50 goals in a season (joining Teemu Selanne and Jari Kurri), has 12 points in his last four games (6-6=12). His 54 goals on the year are 17 clear of his previous career high and rank third among league leaders, behind only Connor McDavid and David Pastrnak.
With three points on the night, Rantanen clinched his first career 100-point season, a feat teammate Nathan MacKinnon accomplished earlier this month. MacKinnon and Rantanen are the Avalanche's first 100-point duo since the club's first season in Colorado (1995-96).
With the primary assist, defenseman Sam Girard secured his first 30-helper season in the NHL. Girard tallied points in each of his three matchups with Anaheim this season.
Suddenly down 2-0 in the second half of the season's final back-to-back, the Ducks would require only 4:11 to pull back even, taking advantage of consecutive Colorado puck management miscues.
The first came as the Avs failed to get the puck fully out of the zone, with Vatrano keeping it in as the last second and then finishing a centering feed from Zegras on left wing.

The goal set new career highs in points for both Zegras (62) and Vatrano (40).
Zegras has assists in three of his last four games (0-3=3) and a team-best 40 on the season. Now in his second full NHL season, Zegras is the first Duck with 40 assists in a single year since Ryan Getzlaf (2017-18).
The goal, Vatrano's 22nd of the season, clinched the Massachusetts native's first 40-point campaign in the NHL. Vatrano's 42 points this year are the most by a first-year Duck since Ryan Kesler (2017-18).
With an assist, Strome also hit the 40-point benchmark. He has 1-3=4 points in his last two games and now sits three points shy of 400 for his NHL career.
Henrique tied the game a few shifts later, making good on a poke check by Fowler at the blue line by tucking a backhand move past Francouz on the subsequent breakaway.

Henrique has scored three goals in his first two games since returning from a knee injury. The 33-year-old clinched his sixth 20-goal season Saturday in Arizona and ranks tied for third among Ducks team leaders (22) this season.
Fowler collected the lone assist with the stick check that took the puck away from Rantanen just inside the Anaheim blue line. The longest-tenured Duck has points in three of his last four games (0-3=3), continuing a career-best season in points (46) and assists (36).
Back at square one headed to the third, the Ducks kept the pressure right up and soon found themselves with a two-goal edge of their own.
Vatrano gave the hosts their first lead of the night with a shot he just powered through the Colorado netminder. The shoot-first winger collected a pass along the right wing wall, then cutting to the middle and releasing a wrister that hit Francouz's equipment, but had enough juice to sneak by and trickle over the goal line.

The multi-goal game was Vatrano's third as a Duck. He has four goals in his last five games (4-1=5) and 10 points in his last 14 appearances.
Leason then made it 4-2 Anaheim two minutes later, winning the race to the netfront for a big insurance marker. As Grant chased down a puck along the right-wing wall, Leason bolted for the net and found himself in right place at the right time, getting just enough of Grant's centering feed to redirect it through Francouz.

Unfortunately for Anaheim, it would fall victim to the same script as Colorado earlier in the evening, seeing the two-goal advantage suddenly evaporate in a matter of minutes.
Rantanen first brought the Avs back within one with his second of the night, a power-play one-timer from the right circle that gave Dostal little chance to slide across in time.
MacKinnon tied the game with a goal nearly exactly the inverse, a power-play one-timer from the circle, albeit this time the left one.
Colorado's lethal power play would prove the difference in OT too, as MacKinnon earned the Avs the extra standings point with yet another one-timer, beating Dostal to clinch the 5-4 final.
The Ducks return to action Tuesday for Fan Appreciation Night at Honda Center.