Recap: Ducks Suffer Heartbreaking Defeat to Toronto in OT, 2-1

ANAHEIM - A Ducks team that has had trouble catching a break all season appeared absolutely snakebit tonight.

Numerous chances to pot the go-ahead goal in the third period went by the wayside, and a fluky collision in overtime led to a frustrating 2-1 defeat to the Toronto Maple Leafs at Honda Center.
Toronto won it with 1:43 left in OT just after Adam Henrique and Rickard Rakell collided while losing the puck in front of the Toronto net. Seconds later on a 2-on-1 rush going the other way, Mitch Marner fed Morgan Rielly for the wrister past a helpless goalie John Gibson.
Pontus Aberg had Anaheim's only goal in the game, and Gibson once again kept Anaheim in it with 34 stops.

Anaheim's best chance to take the lead in the third came with just under 12 minutes left, as the Ducks had a wide open net with goalie Garret Sparks way out of position during some chaos in the crease. But Ondrej Kase's shot was deflected away by defenseman Jake Gardiner.
About six minutes later, Rakell had a similar chance when Sparks banged into his defenseman in the crease, but Rakell's shot somehow hit the fallen goaltender.
"I thought we had some good scoring chances in this game," Rakell said. "We had a chance to get two points, but right now it sucks we didn't."
The Ducks earned a point, but suffered a second straight loss following the high of handing Nashville its first road loss at the start of this week.
Toronto entered the night second in the Eastern Conference with an 8-1-0 record on the road, the lone defeat coming last Saturday in Boston. Tonight was Toronto's sixth win in the last seven games.
"I thought we played well as a team," Rakell said. "We had good possession, attacked with speed and created some off the rush. We had some good changes and the next line came on and did the same thing. That was the first time in a long time we've done that."
The Ducks found themselves in a 1-0 hole early in the game on a fluky goal that went in off Patrick Marleau's skate as he was falling to the ice near the crease. It was the prettiest of the 539 he's scored in his NHL career, good for 32nd all time.
Anaheim tied it with 1:25 left in the second when Aberg absolutely hammered a wide open slapper from the right wing that beat goalie Sparks stick side. Aberg's six goals took over the team lead and snapped a lengthy scoring drought for the Ducks that stretched back to the second period of the Nashville game Monday.

Aberg and a number of other Ducks had plenty of chances to tie it down the stretch, but they were thwarted in large part by Sparks and his 38 saves.
"We've been snakebit to provide offense," said Ducks coach Randy Carlyle. "Tonight was a demonstration of that. It was probably the most frustrating time all year because of the open nets we missed. The chances we had you'd think we would've potted. Two, specifically, Rakell and Kase. One hit the guys' skate and the other one hit the guy on the inside of the thigh. Those are open-net chances we're desperate to provide offense. Two guys who, historically, have been able to find the net with some consistency."
The Ducks will look to get back on track Sunday against Colorado at Honda Center.