Recap: Ducks Rally for Third-Period Comeback, Fall 6-5 in Shootout to Blues

The Ducks erased a two-goal deficit in the third period tonight at Honda Center, but Jordan Kyrou's shootout winner clinched a 6-5 victory for the St. Louis Blues.

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The loss dropped Anaheim to 25-48-5 on the season with four games still to play. The Ducks continue the season's final homestand Tuesday against Los Angeles.

Leo Carlsson and Frank Vatrano each scored twice for the Ducks, helping Anaheim to a three-goal third period that forced overtime. Nikita Nesterenko also scored, his second career NHL goal. Trevor Zegras, Alex Killorn and Isac Lundestrom each tallied two assists, while Cam Fowler, Ryan Strome and Troy Terry added one apiece. Lukas Dostal made 25 saves.

Zack Bolduc, Matthew Kessel, Robert Thomas, Pavel Buchnevich and Brayden Schenn scored for the Blues, who kept their slim playoff hopes alive and improved to 41-32-5 on the season. Jordan Binnington collected his 28th win of the season with 33 stops and denials of all three Anaheim shootout attempts.

St. Louis led 2-1 after 20 minutes, scoring on the very first shift of the game and then reclaiming the advantage late in the opening period.

Bolduc scored 11 seconds after puck drop on a 3-on-2 rush, beating Dostal to the glove side after a setup feed from Thomas.

Blues are now 32-3-1 on the season when scoring the first goal and 9-29-4 when trailing first.

Nesterenko answered for Anaheim two minutes later, following up his own rebound in tight and lifting the loose puck over Binnington's right leg.

Both of Nesterenko's two NHL goals have been scored against Binnington.

The assist gave Lindstrom six helpers in 28 games as a Duck. Since his acquisition on waivers from Montreal in January, Lindstrom leads the Ducks with a +10 rating.

Kessel would put the Blues back ahead on another goal off the rush, this one a wrister to the blocker side from the high slot.

The goal was Kessel's first in the NHL.

With two assists on the night, Thomas is now one point shy of his first career 80-point season. The 24-year-old leads St. Louis in points and assists.

Anaheim answered again early in the second though, using some momentum from an early penalty kill to level the score on the other end of the ice. Zegras first pulled the puck free on the forecheck, then tapping a short pass to Killorn at the net front. Binnington made the first save on Killorn's backhand move, but could not spot the rebound before Vatrano punched it home in the crease.

Vatrano, who has set career high totals in nearly every offensive category this season, is tied for 26th in the NHL with 32 goals. The All-Star winger leads Anaheim in points and goals.

Killorn's assist marked his 500th career NHL point. Zegras has assists in three of his last four games.

St. Louis reclaimed control late in the second period though, with tallies from Thomas and Buchnevich less than three minutes apart giving the visitors a 4-2 cushion heading to the third.

Thomas had five points in three matchups with Anaheim this season, including two multi-point efforts.

Thomas and Vladimir Tarasenko are the only Blues to hit 80 points in a season over the last two decades.

The third belonged to Anaheim though, becoming the latest in a long line of dramatic comebacks through a trying season for the Ducks.

Carlsson first made it 4-3 with a power-play goal as the rookie center found himself in the right place at the right time. Terry held the puck along the goal line and eventual set up Lundestrom with open space in the slot. Lundestrom didn't get all of the one-timer, but instead had the fluttering puck go right to Carlsson at the backdoor, where he roofed it over Binnington.

Carlsson has scored in back-to-back games and has points in three straight outings. Among rookies with at least 50 games played this season, Carlsson ranks sixth in points per game.

The 4-3 score lasted 97 seconds - with Schenn restoring the two-goal St. Louis lead on a backdoor power-play goal.

The Ducks would punch back once again, finding themselves within one for the fourth time tonight when Vatrano converted a terrific one-handed centering pass by the tumbling Zegras behind the net.

Zegras has four points in his last four games and now owns 150 points in 207 career NHL appearances.

Carlsson nearly struck again moments later, beating Binnington off the rush from left wing with a shot that rung the crossbar and bounced wide.

But the rookie would get another shot and this time make good on it, tying the game with a bullet past Binnington from the high slot.

Carlsson has five multi-point efforts this season. He also became the first teenager in Ducks history with two multi-goal performances.

Kyrou scored the only goal of the shootut as Binnington denied Zegras, Carlsson and Terry in order to secure the critical extra standings point for St. Louis.

The Ducks continue a four-game homestand Tuesday against Los Angeles.