Terry Scores 2nd Goal in OT, Ducks Rally to Beat Kraken 5-4
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — On a night when the Anaheim Ducks got plenty of contributions from their newcomers, it was their two usual standouts who ended up delivering when it mattered most.
Troy Terry scored his second goal 55 seconds into overtime, while John Gibson made 44 saves and assisted on Terry’s winner as the Ducks overcame a two-goal deficit to beat the Seattle Kraken 5-4 on Wednesday in the season opener for both teams.
“It was fun for me to be able to share that with him,” said Terry, who led the Ducks with 37 goals and 67 points last season. “I told (Gibson) before we went out there, 'I'll score if you stop them.' He did his job and I was just trying to do mine.”
Gibson stopped Adam Larsson's shot before making an outlet pass to Terry up the right side of the ice. Terry was able to get past Andre Burakovsky before he fired a backhand past Philipp Grubauer for the third overtime goal of his career.
Terry got the Ducks on the board 51 seconds into the game on a wrist shot in front of the net. It was the second-fastest goal in a Ducks season opener, behind Max Comtois, who scored 49 seconds into the first game of the 2018-19 season at San Jose.
“I thought he had a solid game. Such a strong play at the end,” Anaheim coach Dallas Eakins said of Terry. “Troy was certainly in a small group that did their job.”
It was the 11th time in Gibson's nine-year career that he stopped at least 44 shots in a game. His career high is 52, which happened last season against Florida.
“Obviously, we didn’t have the best start through the first half. We’ve got to, maybe, tighten up that penalty kill and get on those details," Gibson said. "Other than that, the way we came back, I thought we played a pretty good third period and found a way to win.”
Anaheim's newcomers accounted for six points. Ryan Strome had a goal and two assists in his Ducks debut, Frank Vatrano also scored and John Klingberg had two assists.
Trevor Zegras added a goal and an assist, and Mason McTavish had a pair of assists.
McTavish, the third pick in the 2021 draft, became the third player in NHL history to record multiple points in his first two season-opening games at 18 and 19 years old. He joined Bobby Carpenter and Ray Bourque.
The Ducks have won seven straight home openers, which trails only Tampa Bay (9-0-0 dating to Jan. 19, 2013) for the longest active run, and have points in each of their last 10 (9-0-1).
Matty Beniers had a goal and an assist for the Kraken, who lost their opener for the second straight year. It was the first multi-point game for Beniers, the second overall pick in the 2021 draft. The center, who turns 20 on Nov. 5, joined the expansion Kraken late last season after two seasons at the University of Michigan. He has 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in 11 games.
Jared McCann, Burakovsky and Oliver Bjorkstrand scored power-play goals for Seattle, and Justin Schultz had a pair of assists. Grubauer stopped 22 shots.
“We come away with a point but we liked the position we were in, especially at 4-2 and being in a position to lock it down. So, there’s a couple things we have to do better there,” coach Dave Hakstol said.
Beniers delivered a cross-ice pass to McCann on the power play to tie it at 1 midway through the first period. Beniers put a rebound into the back of the net to give Seattle a 4-2 lead 4:09 into the third period before the Ducks rallied.
“We played really well. It was kind of the last 10 or 12 minutes and they made a good push. We didn’t have the best response and they scored a couple,” Beniers said.
Vatrano fired a wrist shot from just outside the left faceoff circle that hit the inside of the crossbar and went in at 9:56. Less than four minutes later, Zegras evened it with a slap shot from inside the left circle.
Seattle built a 3-1 lead midway through the second period with all of its goals coming on the power play. After McCann evened it in the first period, the Kraken added second-period scores by Burakovsky and Bjorkstrand with the man advantage.
Strome, who spent the past four seasons with the New York Rangers, brought the Ducks within 4-2 with 1:36 remaining in the second with a power-play goal.
UP NEXT
Kraken: Remain in Southern California to face the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night. It is the first of eight back-to-back sets for Seattle this season.
Ducks: Begin a five-game trip Saturday night against the New York Islanders.