Ducks clinch a thrilling shootout win against the Panthers. Lukas Dostal shines as injuries test both squads.
The Anaheim Ducks wrapped up their season-long road trip with a “Frozen Frenzy” matchup against the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on Tuesday.
The Ducks were coming off a hard-fought loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday, and by coming away with this one with a shootout victory, they earned seven of a possible ten points in the standings on this trip.
The Panthers have had an up-and-down start to their season and were looking to remain .500 or better as they close out their October schedule.
Both teams were dealing with their fair share of injuries and were nowhere near 100% healthy coming into Tuesday’s game. The Ducks have been without Ryan Strome (upper-body injury) for the entire season, Chris Kreider (illness) missed his fourth consecutive game, Mikael Granlund (lower-body) missed his first of what looks to be a multiple-week absence, and Radko Gudas (lower body) missed his second full game.
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Jansen Harkins (upper-body) made his season debut in this game and centered the fourth line between Sam Colangelo and Frank Vatrano. Ryan Poehling and Ross Johnston found a new linemate in the form of Alex Killorn. Nikita Nesterenko got a sizable opportunity on the top line with Leo Carlsson and Troy Terry, while the “kid line” (Gauthier-McTavish-Sennecke) was reunited.
The Panthers were without the services of several key roster players in this game as well: Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Dmitry Kulikov, and Brad Marchand.
Lukas Dostal got the nod in net for the Ducks and was again spectacular, stopping 31 of 33 shots. He was opposed by Daniil Tarasov in the Panthers’ net, who stopped 15 of just 17.
Here are my notes from this game:
An emerging theme from this initial stretch of the Ducks’ 2025-26 season has been a willingness to play aggressively on both sides of the puck despite potential mistakes, making a handful of said potentially costly mistakes per game, and displaying just enough fortitude to pull out a positive result.
The Ducks are still learning their new systems, teammates, pairs, tendencies, etc., so it’s encouraging to see their ability to pull out these games, but at what point do these significant, however occasional, slip-ups become unacceptable? When is the adjustment period over?
Defensive reads and puck management issues will need to be ironed out soon, as continuing to play so volatile is likely incredibly unsustainable for the course of 82 games.
Power Play-The Ducks went 1-for-5 with the man-advantage in this game, but despite unfamiliarity within the two units, they attacked with connectivity and purpose in their umbrella. They pulled their flanks (Troy Terry and Leo Carlsson) up as high as they could, to the blueline with Jackson LaCombe. The intent seemed to be to both draw penalty killers out high to allow more space underneath and to have their two most dangerous offensive threats attack downhill on their strong sides.
Rush Defense-An area that’s plagued the Ducks for the past several seasons has been their inability to defend the rush, specifically filling proper backchecking lanes, reading backchecks, and engaging trailers.
This game was a breath of fresh air in that department, as the first forwards back did well to identify opposing trailers and eliminate them as passing options, allowing defensemen, who properly read their support, to focus attention on defending their assignments. Ryan Poehling, specifically, stood out in this area.
Ian Moore and Drew Helleson-Professional, veteran-like games from the pair of Anaheim right-shot defensemen in this game. They each made a notable mistake (Moore’s penalty and Helleson’s defensive read on Florida’s first goal), but ultimately played beyond their years.
Moore’s skating ability makes it easy for him to recover if he makes a slight misread and stay in position for 1v1 situations. It also allows him to eliminate time and space for opponents and either disrupt their attack or force a poor decision. Helleson is such a calculated angler, which allows him to expertly engage puck carriers and pin them through their core, ultimately separating them from the puck.
Both defensemen excelled on retrievals and breakouts in this game, absorbing or evading pressure and making smart, effective, typically short passes up ice. Carlsson’s shorthanded goal was ignited off a clever, poised shielding sequence from Helleson, and he made a simple chip to his outlet with speed.
Leo Carlsson-On several occasions throughout this game, Carlsson seemed to make a concerted effort to explore his creativity at the offensive blueline. This was an area of needed improvement if he’s to take the next step towards elevating his game.
He used his speed to push defensemen on their heels and cut back to the middle in the space he singlehandedly created, looking for trailing wingers or defensemen who jumped into the rush. He orchestrated clever give-and-gos with Terry, as the two found some chemistry when building plays in the offensive zone.
Additionally, Carlsson did well to keep his feet moving on the cycle with and without the puck in the offensive zone, both to create looks and get pucks back after he’d moved them. Encouraging signs from the Ducks franchise player, already adding to his potent repertoire.
The Ducks will return home to face long-time Anaheim Ducks netminder John Gibson and his Detroit Red Wings in his return to Honda Center on Friday at 7 pm PST.
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