Gauthier Fills the Net Again as Ducks Outlast Canucks 5-4
Anaheim made more of its night than it probably earned, and Vancouver never went away. The Ducks generated the better looks, but this 5-4 game was settled by who finished and who didn't stop pucks.
The chances leaned Anaheim's way: the Ducks' looks were worth 3.34 expected goals (how many goals their chances should produce) to Vancouver's 2.56. Shot attempts were dead even at 54 apiece, and shots on goal were nearly level, 22 to 23.
Cutter Gauthier was the difference. He scored three goals on six shots, on chances that would usually produce well under one. Beckett Sennecke set up four goals and rang a post, and Mikael Granlund added a goal and two assists on a line with both. Special teams mattered too: Anaheim went 3 for 3 on the power play.
For Vancouver, Jake DeBrusk scored twice on three shots, and Elias Pettersson had two assists plus a shot off the post.
Neither goalie bailed his team out. Laurent Brossoit stopped 19 of 23, and Kevin Lankinen stopped 17 of 22, each allowing more than his shots against should have produced. The posts were busy too, with three shots hitting iron, two of them Anaheim's.
