Recap: Vatrano, Dostal Lift Ducks to 4-1 Win in Season Finale

Frank Vatrano scored this third hat trick of the year, Cutter Gauthier collected his first career NHL point in his league debut and Lukas Dostal made 28 saves, guiding the Ducks to a 4-1 win in tonight's season finale against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena.

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With the win, Anaheim capped the 2023-24 season at 27-50-5, seventh in the Pacific Division.

Vatrano gave Anaheim a 1-0 lead early in the second with a power-play goal and later added a crucial insurance tally before hitting the empty net to end the season with a career-best 37 goals. Jackson LaCombe also scored for the Ducks, his second career goal, with an assist from Gauthier. 

Rookie goalie Lukas Dostal earned his 14th win of the season with stops on 28-of-29 Vegas shots.

Tonight's game also marked the final NHL appearance for longtime Ducks winger Jakob Silfverberg, who last week announced his intention to retire from the NHL at the end of the season. Silfverberg finished the night with two blocked shots, one takeaway and a +1 rating in his 772nd game as Duck, fifth-most in franchise history.

Jack Eichel scored the lone goal for the Golden Knights, who finished the season at 45-29-8. Pending the result of tonight's game in Los Angeles, Vegas will face either Dallas or Edmonton in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Dostal kept Anaheim level early, holding Vegas off the scoreboard in the opening 20 minutes despite an 11-4 shots advantage for the hosts.

The Ducks would then capitalize on their netminder's strong start with a power-play tally early in the middle frame, a heavy one-timer from Vatrano in the right circle that hit goaltender Adin Hill's glove and still trickled into the net.

Named to his first NHL All-Star Game this season, Vatrano finished his second campaign as a Duck with a career-best 37 goals and 60 points - both good for the team lead. Vatrano also set career-high totals in games played, assists, power-play goals, power-play points and shorthanded points.

Ryan Strome, who assisted on Vatrano's go-ahead goal, nearly doubled the Anaheim lead later in the period with a clean breakaway against Hill, but the Vegas goaltender answered the call with a left pad save.

And this time it would be Vegas taking advantage of a big stop by their goaltender with a power-play goal on the other end, pulling even on Eichel's point shot that bounced off a Duckx defender and through Dostal.

Anaheim would reclaim control early in the third though, striking twice in a span of 29 seconds for a 3-1 lead.

LaCombe broke the tie 51 seconds into the third, finding free space in the slot and beating Hill to the short side off a setup pass from Gauthier in the corner.

The assist was Gauthier's first career NHL point.

Vatrano made it 3-1 on the next shift and ultimately sealed Anaheim's season-ending victory, converting an odd-man rush with a bullet up over Hill's glove.

Vatrano led Anaheim with seven multi-goal games this season. The second-year Duck would then secure his hat trick with an empty netter in the final minute, capping the scoring in Anaheim's 4-1 win.

Vatrano's empty-netter clinched his first career 60-point season in the NHL.