A week into the 2025-26 season, the Ducks have three games against the Seattle Kraken, San Jose Sharks and Pittsburgh Penguins under their belt.
The Ducks opened up their season last Thursday in Seattle to play a strong Kraken team headlined by new addition Mason Marchment. Although Anaheim showed some strength, it ended up falling to Seattle, 3-1. The Ducks competed well in the first period, outshooting Seattle 17-5 with the score 1-1 heading into the second. However, the strong Kraken offense ultimately proved to be too much in a loud and hostile Climate Pledge Arena as the game progressed.
Preseason standout and 2024 first-round pick forward Beckett Sennecke shined despite the loss. Thanks to a neat interception from forward Mason McTavish and a clean pass to Sennecke at the right post, the rookie netted his first NHL goal on his first shift.
The Ducks headed into San Jose on Saturday night looking to brush off the loss that opened their season and they did just that, winning a 7-6 overtime thriller. The Ducks were down 2-0 at the end of the first period though thanks to goals from forward Cutter Gauthier and Sennecke once again, Anaheim quickly tied the game at 2-2.
The Ducks went down by two goals again in the second period, forcing a third-period deficit. Chris Kreider, however, scored a power-play goal to make the score 6-5 and then thanks to a missed empty netter by San Jose, Kreider knocked in his second goal of the game to tie it 6-6 with 49.5 seconds remaining to force overtime. Carlsson eventually scored the winner in overtime, taking the Ducks out of the SAP Center with a hard-fought win.
The Ducks showed incredible resilience and tenacity to overcome the adversity they faced in Saturday’s game against a tricky and youthful San Jose. Great performances from players such as Kreider and stalwart members of the team such as Carlsson should give fans a boost of excitement as the season moves on.
The Ducks broke a home attendance record on Tuesday for their home opener as Anaheim edged out the Penguins, 4-3, in a cross-conference matchup. The game was headlined by an incredible performance from Kreider once again, scoring two goals and an assist with defensemen Drew Helleson and Gauthier also scoring for the Ducks.
The real difference for the Ducks in this game was their special teams, something that was arguably the biggest weakness for Anaheim last season. Kreider scored two power-play goals in the game, a substantial difference from Anaheim’s rock bottom 32-ranked power-play last season.
Another strong performance on Tuesday came from goaltender Lukas Dostal, who after giving up six goals in San Jose had a bounceback at home, making 23 saves.
Although they dropped their season opener in Seattle last Thursday, the Ducks should feel good about their quick start. Under Joel Quenneville’s lead, the Ducks look promising and will be exciting to watch this year as they look to end their seven-year playoff drought.