Troy Terry helps Ducks rebound from lopsided loss with defeat of Sabres
Troy Terry scored the go-ahead goal with 64 seconds left in the second period and had two assists for the Anaheim Ducks, who rebounded from their most-lopsided loss of the season with a 4-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Monday.
Frank Vatrano scored twice to increase his season total to a career-best 26 goals, and Mason McTavish added three assists in an outing in which the Ducks’ top scoring line combined for three second-period goals. Adam Henrique also scored and John Gibson stopped 34 shots two days after Anaheim was routed in a 9-2 loss at Toronto.
After giving up five goals on 14 shots in relief of starter Lukas Dostal on Saturday, Gibson made several key third-period saves.
Auston Matthews scores a hat trick and finishes with a career-best five points to lead the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 9-2 blowout victory over the Ducks.
His best stop came with 8:19 left when the goalie reached out across the crease to snare Tage Thompson’s attempt to convert Jeff Skinner’s setup into the open right side. Gibson then got his blocker up to stop Rasmus Dahlin’s shot from the slot and followed up to kick out his left pad to prevent Dahlin from converting the rebound with a minute left.
Thompson, Jordan Greenway and Zach Benson scored for the Sabres, while Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen finished with 11 saves.
Buffalo continues to struggle at home — 1-5 in its past six — and remains inconsistent overall. The Sabres failed to carry over the momentum of a come-from-behind 3-2 overtime win at Minnesota on Saturday by dropping to 4-4 in their past eight and 10-9 in their past 19.
Buffalo has been so inconsistent this season that it has yet to win three straight outings, one of the reasons the Sabres are already in jeopardy of extending their NHL-record postseason drought to a 13th season.
The Ducks rallied from a pair of one-goal deficits with Vatrano scoring twice in 2½ minutes to put Anaheim up 3-2 with 5:26 remaining in the second period.
After Benson tied the score by deflecting in Henri Jokiharju’s shot from the left point with 4:40 left in the second, Terry took advantage of a Sabres defensive breakdown to score the go-ahead goal.
McTavish drove up the left boards and, while falling, shoveled a pass to Terry parked to the left of the net. Terry avoided defender Connor Clifton and then skated to the front, where his shot trickled in behind Luukkonen.
The Ducks won despite being outshot 37-15 overall and 10-2 in the final period.
Anaheim swept the two-game season series following a 4-2 home win last month.
