Ducks secure a crucial win, showcasing quality underlying metrics and a potent fourth line.
To finish out their pre-Olympic schedule, the Anaheim Ducks hosted the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday evening at Honda Center.
Anaheim was looking to enter the break with a pair of wins, and coming into Tuesday, they had won eight of their last ten games, but were hanging on to the second wild card spot in the Western Conference standings.
Seattle entered Tuesday with the same amount of points recorded in the standings as the Ducks, but with one less game played, they sat in the third spot in the Pacific and were looking to extend their winning streak to five games.
In their most recent victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday, the Ducks saw the return of two of their top producers: Mason McTavish and Troy Terry. Since head coach Joel Quenneville doesn’t typically change up lines or pairs following a win, here’s how they lined up in this one:
Killorn-Granlund-Sennecke
Kreider-Poehling-Terry
Viel-McTavish-Gauthier
Johnston-Washe-Harkins
LaCombe-Trouba
Zellweger-Gudas
Mintyukov-Moore
Lukas Dostal got the start for the Ducks for the seventh time in eight games, and he stopped 26 of the 28 shots he faced. He was opposed by Philipp Grubauer in Seattle’s net, who saved 27 of 31.
Game Notes
Seattle made it difficult for Anaheim to break out and connect through the neutral zone early, but the Ducks stuck with their game plan, got some fortunate bounces, and controlled play more steadily as the game progressed.
The Ducks, even with a lead for most of the game, won every underlying number battle in every period at 5v5. They finished with 57.55% of shot attempts, 55.32% of shots on goal, and 57.3% of expected goals.
Breakouts/Neutral Zone: As mentioned, the Ducks were often stifled in the neutral zone early, forced to retreat into their own end or lose possession in the middle third of the ice. Much of that was self-inflicted, as they opted not to get pucks as deep as they could or chip to 50-50 areas.
However, for the top three lines, that wasn’t the adjustment they made. They stuck to their game plan of prioritizing possession through the middle and instead, made more lateral D-to-D passes or relied on wingers to self-regroup to hit the weak side defenseman, which opened up more open lanes up ice.
Fourth Line: Together, the Johnston-Washe-Harkins line contributed a goal and three assists, while accounting for 74.75% of the expected goals in their 8:13 TOI at 5v5, including .79 xGF, the most among the three forward lines.
As a fourth line in the modern NHL should, they played a simple brand, established a forecheck, and provided energy from the bottom of the lineup. They chipped, chased, and funneled pucks to the crease, making life difficult on opposing defensemen, centers, and Grubauer.
Ryan Poehling: Since receiving a role higher in the Ducks’ lineup, Poehling continues to grow his game outside of the aspects he’s made his hallmarks. He’d added layers to his straightforward game, like puck protection, keeping cycles alive, and creating time and space. However, in this game, he was manipulative with the puck, made clever, critical slip passes, and with Kreider always heading to the net, and Terry looking for open ice, Poehling attempted several high-danger passes through seams and into soft ice.
The three contrasting yet complementary styles on the Ducks’ listed second line has been eyebrow-raising in their first two games together and has the potential to become a truly dangerous modern shutdown line in the future should the coaching staff deem it necessary to deploy one.
Alex Killorn: Killorn’s quietly notched four points (2-2=4) in his last five games and continues to gain chemistry with Granlund and Sennecke, doing the thankless deeds on a shift-by-shift basis to bring his line success. In this game, he especially thrived at the offensive blueline. When the team was struggling to advance pucks through neutral, he started looking for those defensemen on the weak side. He made little moves at the bluelines to buy split seconds with the puck and allow his teammates to fill lanes on the rush.
He was feeling pressure well, timing his stickhandles as well as his cutbacks expertly, so he could make those connective slip passes. Studying those subtle, veteran plays could aid young players like Gauthier, McTavish, Carlsson, and Sennecke as they progress throughout their careers.
The Ducks will send four players to the 2026 Olympics off their roster: Lukas Dostal, Radko Gudas, Mikael Granlund, and Jackson LaCombe. The rest are able to return to practice on Feb. 17, with their next game scheduled for Feb. 25, when they’ll host the Edmonton Oilers.