Ducks’ Anthony Stolarz, Josh Manson work overtime to beat the Blues

Ducks goaltender Anthony Stolarz skated from his crease to accept a long back pass from defenseman Josh Manson in the early moments of overtime Sunday at Enterprise Center. Stolarz then returned the pass in a nanosecond, setting up Manson for the game-winning goal.

Wait, what?

Stolarz? Manson? Overtime?

Strange but true.

Stolarz, a replacement for the injured John Gibson, freed Manson, making a rare OT appearance, for the game-winning goal 1:42 into the extra period, rallying the Ducks for a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues. Stolarz made 38 saves for his first win in more than two years.

“I kind of gave him a rocket of a pass,” Stolarz said of his first NHL assist. “It wasn’t the flattest thing, but he did a great job of picking it up, driving wide and chipping it over the goalie’s glove. It was a long time coming. I was excited for him and excited for me at the same time.”

Manson’s first goal of the season made a winner of Stolarz for the first time since Feb. 12, 2019 while with the Philadelphia Flyers. Stolarz played six games with the Edmonton Oilers after a trade from Philadelphia and then one with the Ducks after signing as a free agent before 2019-20.

Stolarz has spent most of this season on the taxi squad, but made his first start and second appearance with the Ducks after playing three games with their AHL team, the San Diego Gulls. He learned he would start Sunday morning, after Gibson was ruled out with an upper body injury.

“The way the season is set up, at least with our group, he’s probably had the most challenging time,” Ducks coach Dallas Eakins. “He’s handled it very well. He comes out to practice every day and Gibson and (Ryan) Miller have got the nets. He gets his extra shots before and after practice.

“He hasn’t whined, hasn’t complained, and has worked his tail off.”

Like his teammates, Stolarz settled into the game after an uncertain start, when the Blues swarmed his net and took a 2-0 lead on goals from Ryan O’Reilly and Vladimir Tarasenko in the opening period. O’Reilly scored after a turnover. Tarasenko scored on a power play.

Unlike some games earlier this season, including four losses to the Blues at Honda Center, the Ducks didn’t crack under the pressure. In fact, they counterattacked with goals from Cam Fowler at 8;24 of the second period and Adam Henrique at 2:13 of the third to send the game to OT.

Ryan Getzlaf assisted on Fowler’s goal and moved within eight points of Hall of Famer Teemu Selanne’s franchise record of 988 for his career. Max Jones assisted on both goals, including the pass that freed Henrique for the tying goal off the rush. Stolarz blanked the Blues the rest of the way.

St. Louis never gained possession of the puck in OT as the Ducks won the opening faceoff and played keepaway. Manson jumped onto the ice unexpectedly and whipped a pass back to Stolarz, received the puck in return and then skated past a leg-weary Brayden Schenn.

Manson beat Jordan Binnington with a backhanded shot over the goalie’s glove and under the crossbar. J-S Giguere is the only other Ducks goalie to record an assist on an OT goal, setting up Andy McDonald for the winner March 31, 2007, also a 3-2 win over St. Louis.

“It wasn’t expecting a shift in the overtime, to be honest,” Manson said. “When (Eakins) called my name, I was excited and I was thinking about what I was going to do and I was, like, ‘If anything happens, I’m just going to throw it back to (Stolarz).

“Sure enough, I felt like I was under a bit of pressure and I didn’t want to turn it over, so I ripped it back to him. I think (the Blues) thought they could make a line change and he had the awareness to get it back up to me, which was a great play.’’

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