ANAHEIM, Calif. — Mason McTavish scored 59 seconds into overtime, and the Anaheim Ducks overcame a two-goal deficit in the final six minutes of regulation for a 5-4 victory over the New York Rangers on Friday night.
After Olen Zellweger tied it with 1:45 left, McTavish scored his 20th goal on Jackson LaCombe’s pass to finish a stirring comeback by the Ducks, who are all but certain to miss the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season.
Leo Carlsson had a goal and three assists in the former No. 2 overall pick’s first career four-point game for Anaheim. Cutter Gauthier scored the Ducks’ first goal in the third, and Alex Killorn got an early short-handed goal. Lukas Dostal made 27 saves.
J.T. Miller, Alexis Lafrenière and Adam Fox had a goal and an assist apiece for New York, which has lost five of six.
Mika Zibanejad scored a power-play goal in the third period. Igor Shesterskin stopped 28 shots.
Rangers: Collapse aside, they also missed the chance to leapfrog three teams into sole possession of the second wild-card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They’re even with Columbus (75) and Montreal (75) and barely ahead of the Islanders (74), but all three teams have games in hand on the Rangers.
Ducks: Jacob Trouba faced New York for the first time since his trade to Anaheim in December. The former Rangers captain left in the third with an apparent injury.
Four minutes after Gauthier started the rally with his rebound backhand with 5:48 left, the 21-year-old Zellweger finished an odd-man rush with a nasty shot right under the bar.
Anaheim had just one short-handed goal in its first 70 games before connecting twice in two games, with Killorn following Carlsson’s shorty on Wednesday.
The Rangers visit the Sharks on Saturday. The Ducks host the Maple Leafs on Sunday.
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