ANAHEIM, Calif. — Cutter Gauthier scored his 25th goal and the Anaheim Ducks defeated the Seattle Kraken 4-2 on Tuesday night to win their final game before the Olympic break.<\/p>\n
Jacob Trouba, Alex Killorn and Ross Johnston also scored as the resurgent Ducks built a 4-0 cushion before fending off a late Seattle push. They’ve won nine of 11 following a nine-game losing streak (0-8-1). <\/p>\n
Anaheim climbed within one point of the Pacific Division lead and moved two ahead of the Kraken for third place. Seattle, which had won four in a row and five of six, holds a game in hand over the Ducks.<\/p>\n
Lukas Dostal was 4 1\/2 minutes from Anaheim’s first shutout in 137 games when Jordan Eberle redirected Jared McCann’s slap shot in front for his team-high 20th goal.<\/p>\n
A giveaway by Dostal led to another Kraken goal when a pinballing puck caromed in off Shane Wright to make it 4-2 with 2:31 left. <\/p>\n
Dostal was forced to make several more stops and Chandler Stephenson rang a shot off the post for Seattle before time expired. Dostal finished with 26 saves.<\/p>\n
Jansen Harkins and defenseman Jackson LaCombe each had two assists for Anaheim, which improved to 17-8-1 at home. Those were the first two assists for Harkins this season to go with his three goals in 31 games.<\/p>\n
Philipp Grubauer stopped 27 shots for the Kraken. <\/p>\n
Gauthier opened the scoring at 4:01 of the second period on a snap shot from the top of the right circle just as a Ducks power play expired. Trouba made it 2-0 when the defenseman fired a hard slap shot from the right point with 32.8 seconds left in the period.<\/p>\n
Killorn scored from a sharp angle 24 seconds into the third, and Johnston made it 4-0 at 13:54.<\/p>\n
Anaheim’s streak without a shutout is the longest active drought for any NHL team. The last time the Ducks blanked an opponent came when Dostal made 26 saves in a 2-0 victory at San Jose for their lone shutout last season on Oct. 12, 2024. <\/p>\n
Kraken: Play at Los Angeles on Wednesday night to conclude a three-game trip heading into the Olympic break.<\/p>\n
Ducks: Host the Edmonton Oilers on Feb. 25 in their first game following the break.<\/p>\n
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