Ducks Lose 4-3 in OT to Canucks, Delay Playoff Clinch

Anaheim, Calif. The Anaheim Ducks' push for a long-awaited playoff return hit a snag Sunday night, as the Vancouver Canucks rallied for a 4-3 overtime victory that left the Ducks one point shy of clinching a postseason berth for the first time since 2018.

With 90 points and two games remaining, Anaheim needed a regulation win over the league's last-place Canucks to secure a spot in the Western Conference playoffs. Instead, Marco Rossi sealed the outcome with a one-timer from the right circle at 9.5 seconds of overtime, beating Ducks goaltender Lukas Dostal on Vancouver's power play. Dostal made 22 saves in the loss, including several key stops during the extra period.

Cutter Gauthier paced Anaheim with two goals, reaching a career-high 40 for the season and becoming the fourth player in franchise history to hit that mark in a single year. Leo Carlsson added a third-period tally, his 29th of the campaign, to forge a 3-3 tie with 13:04 left in regulation. The 22-year-old Carlsson, along with Gauthier and fellow young forward Beckett Sennecke, has fueled the Ducks' resurgence, with the team boasting the NHL's most goals by players 22 or younger this season.