Troy Terry, Olen Zellweger provide late fireworks as Ducks edge Mammoth

ANAHEIM — Two high-octane offenses produced a defensive duel on Monday night at Honda Center, where the Ducks edged the Utah Mammoth, 3-2, in overtime after Troy Terry scored with 4.1 seconds to play in regulation.

The Ducks entered the tilt as the No. 2 attack in the NHL on the strength of their recent seven-game winning streak, a position Utah occupied on Oct. 25 toward the end of its own seven-game surge.

Yet offense was at a premium, as it had been for the Ducks during a three-game slump across which they scored just four goals. Utah stumbled for the seventh time in nine games since its October ascent, blowing away two points in the game’s last gasp.

“It’s kind of been the theme of our team for most of this year,” Terry said. “No matter where we are in the game, it never feels like we don’t have a chance to win it. It took longer and it was a little closer than usual, but it’s not surprising.”

Jackson LaCombe opened the scoring, Terry tied the game in its dying embers and Olen Zellweger won it in OT. The Ducks moved back into first place in the Pacific Division and remained unbeaten at Honda Center since Oct. 16. Alex Killorn assisted on the goals by LaCombe and Terry. Lukáš Dostál made 16 saves.

Dylan Guenther and Logan Cooley scored for Utah, and Karel Vejmelka stopped 22 shots.

In the extra session, the Ducks completed their rally at 1:50. Rookie Beckett Sennecke drew Vejmelka far out of his crease with a convincing fake from between the circles before deftly dropping the puck to Zellweger for an uncontested game-winner.

“I was just trying to get as open as I could for (Killorn) there, he made a great play back to Beckett,” Zellweger said. “(Sennecke) sold the goalie pretty hard with the fake shot and passed it right to me, so I just made the play on the open net.”

As the final horn loomed, the Ducks spent more than two minutes with the extra attacker, generating pressure six-on-five but taking until 4.1 seconds showed on the game clock to knot the score.

Cutter Gauthier’s shot-pass for Chris Kreider resulted in a struck post, but the puck teetered in the crease where it touched Kreider’s stick and Vejmelka’s glove before being tapped home by Terry to secure the Ducks at least one point.

At the 9:19 mark of the third period, Utah took its first lead of the night off Cooley’s first goal in eight games since signing an eight-year, $80 million contract. His seam pass went from the right circle to the left point, where a crafty return pass from Mikhail Sergachev set up Cooley’s one-timer from the dot.

Ducks captain Radko Gudas returned to the lineup healthy after missing 11 games. He was on for the opening goal and his point shot was nearly tipped home in the second period by Gauthier, but it went wide of Vejmelka.

Gudas was also deployed during Utah’s equalizer with 1:46 left in the frame. The Ducks have been outscored 11-3 with Gudas on the ice overall and 7-3 at even strength.

It was something of a mismatch with the Mammoth’s second line on against the Ducks’ fourth, and defenseman Nate Schmidt put enforcer Ross Johnston in the spin cycle to break down the Ducks’ coverage. Guenther raised his stick skyward and was soon after blasting a one-timer past a pair of Czechs, Gudas and Dostál.

In each of the first two periods, the team that scored had the lesser overall possession numbers. In the opening 20 minutes, the Ducks nearly capitalized early before cashing in late on their best opportunities.

“There weren’t a bunch of shots for either team in that whole game,” said Zellweger, sounding much like Utah coach André Tourigny. “We probably would have liked to have more O-zone time or better execution, but that’s hockey. We’ve got to stick with it for the full (game), and that’s what we did.”

At four-on-four, a rebound narrowly eluded Drew Helleson for what would have been a tap-in goal. But later, his shot block keyed a counterattack on which all five Ducks touched the puck before a give-and-go between LaCombe and Ryan Strome gave them a 1-0 lead with 4:08 remaining. It was the first goal of the year for LaCombe, whose 14 goals last season were twice as many as the next most productive Ducks defenseman, Zellweger.

After the ensuing faceoff, Johnston and Liam O’Brien squared off, with the crowd erupting when Johnston took O’Brien down to the ice.

Terry said the Ducks tried to limit turnovers against a solid transition team from Utah, but that the structured, disciplined tone of the match – each side had just one power play – was simply how the action unfolded, and how others likely would as the season advanced.

“These are the kind of games we should start enjoying, because they’re going to be a part of the fabric when we look over the course of the rest of the season,” echoed Coach Joel Quenneville.