Gauthier scores late in 3rd for Ducks to edge Oilers, give Quenneville 1,000th win

ANAHEIM -- Cutter Gauthier scored with 1:14 left to give Anaheim Ducks coach Joel Quenneville his 1,000th NHL victory, a 6-5 win against the Edmonton Oilers at Honda Center on Wednesday.

Quenneville (1,000-595-153 with 77 ties) joins Scotty Bowman (1,244-573-10 with 314 ties) as the only NHL coaches to reach the milestone. 

"I wasn't prioritizing the number. I just wanted to play well tonight and find a way to win," Quenneville said. "That was the motivation, and it turned out to be a very special one as well."

Leo Carlsson had a goal and two assists for Anaheim — including setting up Gauthier for the go-ahead goal — after missing the previous 11 games following a procedure to treat a left thigh injury.

Chris Kreider had two assists, and Lukas Dostal made 22 saves for the Ducks (31-23-3), who are 10-2-0 in their past 12 games.

Anaheim erased a pair of two-goal deficits for its NHL-leading eighth multigoal comeback victory and its sixth straight win at home.

"It was a tremendous game as far as the unpredictability of the outcome," Quenneville said. "Both teams looked like they were in complete control of the game at some times of that game."

Matt Savoie had a goal and two assists, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Evan Bouchard each had a goal and an assist, and Connor McDavid and Mattias Ekholm each had two assists for the Oilers (28-23-8), who have lost a season-high four straight.

Tristan Jarry made 20 saves before he was replaced in the third period by Connor Ingram, who had three saves.

"I thought it was a hard-fought game," Savoie said. "Trading chances on both sides, just gave up a little too much and they were able to capitalize."

Edmonton scored 13 seconds into the game when Savoie made a stretch pass up the wall to Jack Roslovic, who got behind Ducks defenseman Radko Gudas and scored with a snap shot from the left circle for a 1-0 lead.

The Oilers made it 2-0 at 9:03 when McDavid recovered a loose puck behind the Anaheim net and passed it out front to Nugent-Hopkins, who lifted the puck over Dostal's right shoulder from in close.

Ian Moore stepped into the puck after it banked off the side boards and scored up high with a one-timer from the right circle to cut it to 2-1 at 10:30.

Alex Killorn stopped a short-handed rush in the Anaheim zone and then put in a rebound while still on the power play to tie it 2-2 at 3:01 of the second period.

Zach Hyman redirected a pass from Ekholm into the net to move the Oilers back in front 3-2 at 18:45.

Bouchard scored 35 seconds later on a short feed from Nugent-Hopkins at 19:20 to re-establish the two-goal lead at 4-2.

“They're a dangerous team to give chances to," Ducks defenseman Jacob Trouba said. "I think going down two twice and coming back is something to really pull from this game. ... I  think that speaks a lot about the group and the character we're building in the room.”

Carlsson cut it to 4-3 at 1:30 of the third period when he put in a rebound off a rush. Olen Zellweger followed with a shot from above the left circle that sailed through traffic and hit the net to tie it 4-4 at 2:55.

“Fun game," Carlsson said. "Lot of back and forth, as we knew the game was kind of going to be, too."

Edmonton moved back in front 5-4 at 5:53 when Savoie slapped in a loose puck from in close while on a power play.

Savoie was recalled from Bakersfield of the American Hockey League on Wednesday.

"That's one of his strongest games this year," Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. "Penalty kill, he scores on the power play, 5-on-5 he's creating a lot of chances, so there were a lot of good performances by guys." 

The Ducks came back and tied it 5-5 at 6:39 when Beckett Sennecke scored from the inside edge of the right circle off the rush, ending the night for Jarry.

"Obviously, I wasn't happy with the goals we gave up, especially in the third period," Knoblauch said. "I didn't like those, and there were other mistakes there, but part of it is you need better goaltending and tonight wasn't one of his best games."

NOTES: McDavid arrived in Orange County on Tuesday night after representing Team Canada in the Olympics. ... Edmonton forward Adam Henrique was activated from injured reserve after missing 15 games with an upper-body injury and he had one hit in 12:42. ... Bouchard leads NHL defenseman with 65 points (16 goals, 49 assists). ... Hyman has 21 goals in 29 games since December 11, the most in the NHL in that span. ... Anaheim defenseman Jackson LaCombe returned to Orange County after helping Team USA win gold at the Olympics and he had an assist in a team-high 22:27 of ice time. ... This is the latest in a season Anaheim has been in a playoff spot since 2017-18, when the Ducks finished second in the Pacific Division. ... Dostal is 9-1-0 in his past 10 games. ... Sennecke leads NHL rookies with 19 goals (18). ... Ducks forward Ross Johnston played in 300th NHL game.