Frank Vatrano’s overtime goal lifts Ducks over Blackhawks

Frank Vatrano scored 2:15 into overtime, and the Ducks beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 on Tuesday night in a matchup of two of the NHL’s worst teams.

Vatrano recorded his 12th goal of the season when he beat Petr Mrazek from the left side of the net. Isac Lundestrom set up the game-winner with a cross-ice pass.

“It was a great play by Lundy all around, to hold on to that puck and find a lane for me,“ Vatrano said.

The Ducks improved to 4-0-1 in their last five games. It was their first win against Chicago since Dec. 5, 2018, stopping an eight-game slide.

“We’ve been going good as of late, and before the [All-Star] break we were playing some good hockey,” Vatrano said. “We wanted to start after the break with some positivity.”

Brett Leason and Jayson Megna each had a goal and an assist for the Ducks (17-29-6). John Klingberg recorded two assists, and Anthony Stolarz made 27 saves.

“We just kept our heads down and kept swinging,” Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said. “Lundstrom’s out there, and he shows some patience. Franky Vatrano really woke up there in the third period and continued on to the overtime.”

Chicago’s Jason Dickinson had a goal for the third consecutive game. Seth Jones also scored, and Mrazek made 23 saves.

With the score tied at 2, the Blackhawks controlled much of the action in the third period. But Stolarz stopped Dickinson’s point-blank shot with 7:40 left. Chicago defenseman Jake McCabe missed on a prime chance with just more than six minutes remaining.

“Yeah, that one hurts,” Dickinson said. “Feel like we should have won, but we let that one get away from us.”

It was the first game for the Blackhawks since Hall of Fame forward Bobby Hull died last week at age 84. The organization paid tribute to Hull with a pregame moment of silence and a video of his career highlights.

Troy Terry, the Ducks’ All-Star forward, was sidelined by an upper-body injury. He is day to day after he got hurt during a 3-2 shootout loss at Dallas on Monday night.

Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews missed the game because of a non-COVID-19 illness.

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Dickinson opened the scoring at 1:36 of the second period. He beat Stolarz from the slot after Patrick Kane made a centering pass from the backboards.

Leason tied it at 8:25, knocking in a rebound of his own shot with a one-handed swat.

Jones put Chicago (15-29-5) back in front at 13:09. The All-Star defenseman jumped up to join a rush, took Dickinson’s cross-ice feed and connected from the slot.

Megna tied it at 2 at 15:42 with his first goal of the season and No. 11 for his career. He scored from the right circle after Jones lost the puck behind his own net.

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