ANAHEIM — The Ducks were all smiles before the homecoming game of longtime mainstay Cam Fowler, but at the end of Friday night only he and his new teammates were grinning at Honda Center.

St. Louis prevailed, 4-3, despite a feverish push that saw the Ducks score twice late, including in the final minute, and come a sliver of a second from knotting the game at the buzzer.

This was effectively a four-point game in the wild-card race that moved the Blues into a points tie with the Calgary Flames for the final postseason berth and dropped the Ducks seven points back of both teams.

Sam Colangelo, Frank Vatrano and Alex Killorn notched a goal apiece. Vatrano tacked on an assist and Terry contributed two. Lukáš Dostál halted 18 pucks in defeat.

Fowler, the Duck’s all-time leader in games played by a defenseman, picked up two assists for St. Louis. Captain Brayden Schenn had two goals, including an empty-netter. Alexey Toropchenko scored one goal and assisted on another by Zack Bolduc. Jordan Binnington turned away 20 shots.

The finale was electric, as the Ducks surged through the dying embers and appeared to have sent the game to overtime off Mason McTavish’s pop-in as the horn sounded. The goal was disallowed initially and that decision was upheld upon video review, leaving the Ducks agonizingly close to a vital point and an opportunity at another.

Schenn’s empty-net goal with 1:47 to play was wedged between Vatrano’s 19th goal of the year with 3:02 remaining in regulation and Killorn’s tally, his 18th of 2024-25, with 43 seconds left.

Terry collected the primary assist on both goals, lofting a pass for Killorn in tight and making a brilliant play in which he drove hard from the left-wing wall to the inner slot, drawing a crowd of four Blues defenders before his drop pass against the grain set upVatrano’s authoritative shot.

The Ducks completed an ignominious trifecta early in the third period. Having already allowed a soft goal and one off a turnover, they could add a porous defensive play to the list at 5:21. Fowler feathered a lead pass for Bolduc, who had gained speed in the neutral zone and effortlessly split two Ducks defenders, Jacob Trouba and Pavel Mintyukov, to dart in on goal and bank the puck off Dostál and into the net.

After drawing two penalties and converting on one power play in the first period, the Ducks earned the only two man-advantage opportunities of the second period. It was St. Louis, however, that held a 2-1 edge through 40 minutes.

Jackson LaCombe’s pass for partner Radko Gudas eluded Gudas’ stick, setting up a dangerous 3-on-2 opportunity that turned lethal when Jordan Kyrou passed for Dylan Holloway, who found Schenn wide open for a rising shot and his 13th goal this season.