SUNRISE, Fla. – Second-period strikes shorthanded and on a two-man advantage gave the Anaheim Ducks a lead against the run of play against the two-time reigning Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers, but the Cats showed their championship mettle to fight back late to tie, 2-2.

However, in the extra sessions, Ducks goaltender Lukas Dostal was nails in overtime and stopped two of three Panthers in the shootout to support a slick goal by Troy Terry and a complete undressing by Mason McTavish and allow the Ducks to sneak out of South Florida, 3-2.

Dostal stopped 31 of 33 shots in regulation and overtime, and Florida goalie Daniil Tarasov saved 15 of 17 shots. According to MoneyPuck, Florida had an overwhelming 3.5-goal lead in expected goals in all situations, 5.49-2.05, but Dostal was part of the difference with 3.49 goals saved above expected.

Anaheim closes its first eastward road trip of the season with seven of a possible 10 points on the trip with a 3-1-1.

The Ducks (5-3-1, 11 points) returns to Orange County to open a three-game homestand against John Gibson and the Detroit Red Wings on Halloween, Friday night. Florida will meet back up with the Ducks to close that home stretch in one week, Nov. 4.

With nearly every stat–traditional, analytic or otherwise–tipping in Florida’s favor, the Ducks were opportunistic on special teams to eek out to a lead in the eventual victory over the two-time reigning Stanley Cup Champions.

Anaheim opened the scoring in the second period with Troy Terry and Leo Carlsson pushing up ice for a shorthanded one-timer–the Ducks’ first shorthanded marker of the season–and the Ducks killed all three of Florida’s power plays, allowing six extra-man shots.

The Ducks followed up on a five-on-three later in the second period. Anaheim missed out on a five-on-three opportunity in Nashville last week, and when asked about the power play the next day in Boston, the Ducks and Quenneville had lamented that lost chance.

Anaheim made it count in Florida with a couple of key retrievals and blueline holds, before Jackson LaCombe snuck down and found Cutter Gauthier for a right-circle one-timer. That was Gauthier’s first power play goal of the season.

Anaheim was 1-for-5 on the power play with seven shots.

Anaheim entered Tuesday’s game at 18th in the league on the power play with a 20% conversion rate, and the Ducks were 22nd on the penalty kill at 72.7%.

 

With a point in every game on the road trip, Troy Terry has gotten back on track with a five-game point streak. Terry netted his first goal of the season in Nashville last Tuesday and scored twice, including the game-winner, in a topsy-turvy game in Boston on Thursday.

The Denver native has seven points (three goals and four assists) in the five-game streak.

Terry earned a helper on Tuesday in Florida with a nifty shorthanded give-and-go with Leo Carlsson. The 20-year-old Swede gained the zone on left wing, crossed in front of and dropped the puck to Terry in the middle and Terry cruised to the left before zinging a one-time feed to Carlsson.

It was the Ducks’ first shorthanded goal of the season and just the second time in nine games Anaheim netted the first goal of the game.

Terry is second on the team in points with 10 points, behind only Carlsson (11 points) who registered two points on Tuesday. Terry and Carlsson are tied for the team lead in assists with seven each.

With a goal and an assist on Tuesday, Leo Carlsson stayed on top of the team points charts, and he notched plenty of notable stats for his efforts, per NHL Stats.

Carlsson’s shorthanded goal was the second of his career, making him the second player age 20 or younger in Ducks history to earn more than one joining Brandon McMillan, who netted two.

He also joined Gabriel Landeskog and Mats Sundin as one of just three Swedish players in NHL history to net multiple shorthanded goals before age 21.

His two points earned Carlsson’s 18th multi-point game of his career and put him by Trevor Zegras’ mark for most by a Ducks player before age 21.

Anaheim was without four of its regulars in Tuesday’s line-up, as the Ducks battled through injury woes on this five-game road trip.

Chris Kreider missed his fourth consecutive game with an undisclosed illness, Radko Gudas missed his second full game with a lower-body injury and Mikael Granlund missed his first full game with his own lower-body injury. Ryan Strome also remained on injured reserve and has not played a regular-season game this season.

Ryan Poehling moved up to third-line center in Granlund’s spot, and Jansen Harkins made his season debut as fourth-line center.

Gudas is still listed as day-to-day after coming out after the first period in Boston. According to Eric Stephens of the Athletic, Kreider, who is also considered day-to-day, returned home to Orange County after Saturday’s stop in Tampa Bay.

Ian Moore played in a second consecutive game in Gudas’ spot alongside Pavel Mintyukov.

Before leaving for the road trip, Quenneville said that Strome would join the team for practice on the road trip, a notion that Quenneville reiterated in Boston on Thursday. However, Strome did not join the team, sticking on the IR with an upper-body injury.