Recap: Ducks Ride Wild Second Period to 4-3 Win in Buffalo

Frank Vatrano scored twice while Mason McTavish and Troy Terry posted three-point afternoons, powering the Ducks to a 4-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres today at KeyBank Center.

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Anaheim improved to 20-33-2 on the season with the Presidents Day triumph and finished a four-game eastern road trip at 2-2-0.

Skating in their fourth straight game together as Anaheim's second line, Terry, McTavish and Vatrano combined for three goals in the middle frame, helping turn a pair of one-goal deficits into a third-period lead and comeback victory. Adam Henrique also scored. Max Jones and Ross Johnston added assists. 

John Gibson earned his 12th win of the season stopping 33-of-36 Buffalo shots, highlighted by a remarkable sprawling save on Buffalo's Tage Thomspon midway through the third. Gibson is now eight wins shy of becoming the second goaltender with 200 as a Duck and 14 wins from J.S. Giguere's franchise record.

Thompson, Jordan Greenway and Zach Benson scored for the Sabres, who fell to 24-27-4 on the season. Goaltender Ukka-Pekka Luukkonen made 11 saves.

Both teams found the scoreboard in a first period largely dictated by Buffalo, as Anaheim answered the afternoon's opening salvo on a good forechecking effort.

Greenway put the Sabres ahead first on one of his several quality scoring chances in the initial 20 minutes, beating Gibson from the high slot after an Anaheim neutral zone turnover led to an odd-man rush.

A former second-round pick by Minnesota now in his first full season with Buffalo, Greenway has five points in his last four games (3-2=5) and 19 points in 43 appearances on the year.

With the lone assist on the goal, Sabres center Dylan Cozens now has points in three of his last four games. The 23-year-old, selected seventh overall in the 2019 NHL Draft, sits second amongst his draft class in NHL scoring, five points ahead of Anaheim's Trevor Zegras in 53 more games.

Henrique answered for the Ducks two shifts later though, finding himself in the perfect spot to finish off a well-executed forecheck by Johnston and Jones. Johnston first poked the puck free, allowing Jones to tap it behind his back to Henrique for a one-timer in the low slot.

The goal was Henrique's 16th of the season, and his 133rd as a Duck - ninth most in franchise history. The 34-year-old, now in the final season of a five-year contract, has 12 points in his last 11 games and ranks third among team leaders in points this season. 

A former division rival from his time with New Jersey, Henrique has 27 career points against Buffalo, his second-most against any NHL opponent. 

Johnston's helper marked the physical winger's third point as a Duck.

A mostly tight-checking first period then gave way to a wild middle frame, full of scoring chances on both ends of the ice and a combined five goals.

Thompson, the son of Ducks assistant coach Brent Thompson, briefly put Buffalo ahead with a heavy power-play one-timer from the left circle - finally finding the back of the net after multiple good looks in tight. 

The Buffalo Thompson, a 6-foot-6 center who posted a career-best 94 points last season, has totaled 32 points in 45 outings this year, tied with Cozens for sixth on the team.

The hosts' lead would again be short-lived though, as a pair of Anaheim goals with the exact same scoreline would put the visitors in front.

The first came on a one-timer from Terry to McTavish, which Luukkonen initially denied with a sliding save to his left. The goaltender could not corral the rebound though, which Vatrano found sitting just behind Luukkonen for a tap-in goal from the crease.

The tying tally clinched Vatrano's first career 25-goal season in the NHL. The second-year Ducks winger has already set career-best totals in goals (26), points (44), power-play goals (11), power-play points (17) and shorthanded points (three) this season.

With three assists on the day, McTavish finished the road trip with five points in four games. The 21-year-old center has 36 points in 47 games this year and seven multi-point performances.

The secondary helper made Terry the second Duck to reach 40 points on the season. 

Two minutes after Vatrano's first marker, it would be the same three culprits again victimizing the Sabres defense - this time a beautiful saucer pass from McTavish to Vatrano after Terry gained the blue line with possession.

Vatrano is now tied for 17th in the NHL in goals (26) this season, alongside Travis Konecny, Leon Draisaitl and Filip Forsberg. He's scored in each of his last three games (3-2=5) and has points in six of his last seven - including three multi-point efforts.

The seesaw battle only continued from there as Benson tied it right back up on the next shift, a long one in the Anaheim defensive zone, with a high-to-low tip past Gibson as penalty loomed against the Ducks.

Benson, one of just four players selected in last summer's draft to already appear in the NHL, has six goals and 11 points in his debut campaign. 

That 3-3 score lasted an eternity for today's second period, but in reality only 3:36, as Terry capped Anaheim's three-goal middle frame with his 16th of the season. McTavish made the play happen once again, winning a puck battle along the left wing wall and in the process creating just enough space for Terry to step inside and slip a forehand bid between Luukkonen's legs.

Terry's three-point afternoon was the 11th of his NHL career, tying Jakob Silfverberg and Scott Niedermayer for ninth-most by a Duck.

Buffalo's best chance at a third-period equalizer came off the stick of Thompson from point-blank range, but a spectacular lunging glove stop by Gibson somehow kept the puck out and ultimately preserved Anaheim's 4-3 win.

The Ducks return to action Wednesday against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Honda Center.