Ducks fall to Canucks in OT, close in on Stanley Cup Playoff berth

ANAHEIM -- Marco Rossi scored a power-play goal with 10 seconds left in overtime and the Vancouver Canucks recovered for a 4-3 win against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on Sunday.

Rossi scored with a one-timer from the right face-off circle with two seconds left on the power play after Chris Kreider was called for slashing.

The Ducks (42-32-6) would have clinched their first Stanley Cup Playoff berth in eight seasons with a win of any kind. Anaheim, which has lost seven of eight (1-5-2), is third in the Pacific Division, three points ahead of the Los Angeles Kings, who have a game in hand.

“Disappointed," Ducks captain Radko Gudas said of the missed opportunity. "I thought we had had a great start. I thought we battled in the third. We played really great hockey (in the third), so we need to play that hockey for 60 minutes.”

The Ducks can clinch a playoff spot if the Nashville Predators lose in any fashion at the San Jose Sharks on Monday. Otherwise, Anaheim's next opportunity to clinch will be at the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday.

"Unfortunately, we have to watch it. We wanted not to have to," Gudas said of the Nashville game. "It's going to be (Monday). If not, then Tuesday is a big game for us again."

Rossi also had an assist, Curtis Douglas scored his first NHL goal, and Jake DeBrusk and Brock Boeser also scored for the Canucks (24-48-8), who were coming off a 4-3 shootout win at the San Jose Sharks on Saturday. Nikita Tolopilo made 24 saves.

"Easily could have not played with the intensity or urgency we've seen the last three or four games, but they keep pushing and they're gelling together," Vancouver coach Adam Foote said. "Give them a lot of credit, they've really connected as a group."

Cutter Gauthier scored two goals to reach 40 for the season after missing the previous five games because of an upper-body injury. Kreider had two assists for the Ducks. Lukas Dostal made 22 saves. 

“With two games to play, there's still a lot of work to do," Gauthier said. "I'm confident in the group that we’ll be able to do it.”

Kreider tapped a rebound to Gauthier on the other side of the crease and he scored with a one-timer into the open side of the net for a 1-0 Ducks lead at 3:41 of the first period.

Douglas, a 6-foot-9 forward who was playing in his 41st NHL game after he was claimed off waivers from the Tampa Bay Lightning on March 6, pushed in a rebound that got behind Dostal in the crease to tie it 1-1 at 10:49.

"It was pretty cool having everyone so excited. It was almost like they scored," Douglas said of his teammates. "I have chills right now just talking about it. I don't want to get emotional, but it was really, really special, I think, just coming down the line and seeing all the smiles and people freaking out because they've been there the whole time, and cheering me on and making sure I didn't get down because I hadn't scored yet."

Vancouver was on a power play when DeBrusk tipped in a point shot from Rossi for a 2-1 lead at 14:37 of the first period.

Boeser stole a pass back to defenseman John Carlson at the right point while the Ducks were on a power play and scored on a breakaway to make it 3-1 at 4:28 of the third period.

Gauthier became Anaheim's first 40-goal scorer since Corey Perry in 2013-14 when he squeezed a one-timer through the pads of Tolopilo while on a power play to cut it to 3-2 at 5:05.

Leo Carlsson tied it 3-3 at 6:56 when he flipped a backhand over Tolopilo from a sharp angle.

"After they tied it up, we hung in there and regained our emotions," Foote said.

NOTES: Vancouver recalled defenseman Kirill Kudryavtsev from Abbotsford of the American Hockey League on Sunday and he assisted on Douglas's goal in his season debut.... Gudas returned after missing five games with a lower-body injury; he had four hits in 10:05. ... Carlsson has 22 points (11 goals, 11 assists) in 24 games since the Olympic break.