OTTAWA -- In his first game back at Canadian Tire Centre since he was fired as head coach by the Ottawa Senators 15 months ago, Anaheim Ducks assistant Paul MacLean managed to get the last laugh.

But neither MacLean nor his new team found anything amusing about the first 45 minutes.

The Ducks matched a record for biggest comeback in franchise history by rallying from a 3-0 deficit to score a 4-3 victory over the Senators on Saturday night.

Rickard Rakell notched the winner at 2:38 of overtime with the Ducks on a power play, a special teams unit MacLean has coached into the No. 1 ranked in the league.

The Ducks had the 28th-rated power play before MacLean, the Senators coach from 2011 until he was dismissed December 2014, was hired in Anaheim.

"He always has a plan," Rakell said of MacLean. "We practice a lot of power play. We want to do something first, and a second plan if it doesn't work. The big difference this year and why we've been so successful on the power play is we work on the power play more, at least three or four times a week, every chance we have a real practice and it's certainly paying off.

"Also the thing with Paul in these kinds of situations, he lets us do our thing because we're good players and we can make plays out there. We're just trying to find what's open."

A first-period goal by Mike Hoffman and markers from Erik Karlsson and Chris Neil had the Senators with a seemingly comfortable lead through the early part of the third. But Ryan Getzlaf scored at the 5:43 mark, former Senator Jakob Silfverberg closed the gap to one at 11:31, and Hampus Lindholm tied the game with 57.2 seconds remaining in regulation.

Former Duck Bobby Ryan took a double high-sticking minor 1:40 into the extra session to put his team against the wall.

"It was accidental ... good call, it's certainly a penalty in overtime," said Senators coach Dave Cameron.

Craig Anderson stopped 35 shots in the Ottawa net, while Frederik Andersen made 29 saves, and dodged a bullet when Hoffman fumbled the puck on a third period penalty shot that would have put Ottawa up by four at 4:33 of the third.

"I thought we had a great first two periods against a real good hockey club," said Cameron. "I thought after the missed penalty shot we were back on our heels a little bit, they took advantage of that."

The Ducks (41-23-10) are trying to overtake the Los Angeles Kings in the race for first in Pacific Division. Minus four regulars with injuries and another on personal leave, they were a step behind the Senators (34-33-9) until Getzlaf pumped some life into them with his 12th of the season.

"We got fed up with the way we were playing," said Getzlaf, who thought the Ducks left Andersen "out to dry" in the first two periods. "All that other stuff, I guess, is excuses. We never talk about it in the room, about guys being out. It's more about what we want to do as a group."

Neil said the Senators, who are eight points out of a playoff spot with six games to play, were guilty of trying to pad their stats when they should have been protecting the lead.

"Obviously it's disappointing," he said. "Up 3-0, and it's guys cheating to make it 4-0, 5-0, instead of just holding the lead. It's unacceptable, it really is. If you do it right, you end up getting more scoring chances than if you're cheating for them. It's frustrating."

Karlsson said the Senators should be getting into good habits now.

"I think we wanted it more than they did for the first two periods and even the beginning of the third," he said. "Once they got the first goal, it feels like we don't really want it that much anymore, and we don't want to play the same way as we did early in the game, to keep it going. Good teams are going to make you pay."

"Everybody has to find something to play for. We have a lot of young guys that are going to have to prove themselves if they want to be here next year. We have a lot of older guys who need to step it up and show they're going to be leaders in times when they're tough. This is where we're going to know who is going to be here when we're going to get that chance on winning the Cup."

The Ducks are now 4-4-2 since a stretch that saw them lose during one regulation time game in 21.

"We just want to play better going in (to the playoffs)," said Ducks coach Bruce Boudreaus, whose team was playing its first game since clinching a postseason spot Thursday. "Any team you play is going to be extremely difficult. We want home ice advantage and with San Jose losing, that helps us a lot today."

NOTES: Ducks LW Chris Stewart returned to the lineup after missing 19 games with a broken jaw. He was slated to start the game on the first line, alongside C Ryan Getzlaf and RW Brandon Pirri. ... Ducks C Ryan Kesler missed his second game for personal reasons. ... Ducks D Shea Theodore played his first game since suiting up for 13 around the turn of the calendar year, while D Kevin Bieksa and D Sami Vatanen remain close, but not quite ready to return from injuries. ... Senators C Scott Gomez was a healthy scratch for the first time since signing with the team at the start of March. In 11 games, Gomez has one assist. ... Senators RW Chris Neil returned after missing two games with an illness. ... Senators D Dion Phaneuf missed his second game with a lower-body injury.