Detailed notes from Wednesday's pre-season game between the Ducks and the Utah Hockey Club
The Ducks hosted the Utah Hockey Club for their penultimate preseason matchup of the 2024-25 season.
Quack of Dawn: Ducks Morning Report - 10/02
A trio of young Ducks got their first taste of pre-season hockey this year in the form of Nathan Gaucher, Pavel Mintyukov, and 2024 third-overall pick Beckett Sennecke.
Lukas Dostal received the nod to start and finish the game between the pipes for the Ducks, stopping 35 of 37 shots.
Utah iced a lineup chock-full of young talent like Logan Cooley, Dylan Guenther, and Maveric Lamoureaux, but some significant veteran pieces like Clayton Keller, Lawson Crouse, Mikhail Sergachev, and John Marino didn't make the trip to Southern California.
Karel Vejmelka got the start for Utah and stopped 27 of the 32 shots he faced.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QRFWs4wJMo[/embed]
Here are my notes from this game:
Beckett Sennecke: In his 15:34 minutes, Sennecke flashed some of the attributes that warranted his selection as the third-overall pick in June's NHL Draft. He involved himself in every play and made himself available to touch the puck as much as possible.
He was reluctant to pounce on loose pucks at times in the defensive zone and had some issues advancing pucks on breakouts. Those are aspects that are typically ironed through repetition.
"I saw a young guy that's extremely confident," Ducks head coach Greg Cronin said. "You can see the plays he made, and a lot of them didn't connect, but you can see what he was looking at. He's a step ahead of everybody."
Lukas Dostal: Dostal was in mid-season form in this game. He was in control of the play, tracking pucks efficiently, and never wavered from his angles.
Neutral Zone Forecheck: Utah is a team that likes to build plays and enter the offensive zone with speed. The Ducks' forwards did a good job of shadowing outlet options, and defensemen were effective in sealing the defensive blueline.
Robby Fabbri: Fabbri was a 200-foot menace in this game, consistently pressuring opposing defensemen with possession and winning pucks back for his linemates, Sennecke and Mason McTavish.
"Robby Fabbri was probably our best player in terms of visibility on both sides of the puck," Cronin said. "His compete level, his forecheck, his penalty killing, his backcheck, his physicality to me, was super impressive."
Pavel Mintyukov: Mintyukov played a bit jumpy in his first few shifts, too eager to advance pucks without scanning fully. He settled as the game wore on and was far more involved offensively, both on the cycle and the rush.
The Ducks preseason finale will be on Friday, Oct. 4, at 7 pm PST in San Jose, where they'll take on the Sharks.