Heading into this last weekend, the Anaheim Ducks were on an early-season five-game losing streak, and while the 84-game schedule was still young, they were in desperate need of curbing the streak out of fear of the year getting away from them before Halloween.

Anaheim ended their streak on Saturday in what has become an annual emotional matchup with the Philadelphia Flyers in Philadelphia, winning the game 5-4 and ending their four-game road trip to the tri-state area. They lost the first three games of the road trip to the New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, and New York Rangers after losing two at home to the Boston Bruins and Calgary Flames. The combined score of the five games was 20-9.

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With the Ducks roster continuing to get younger as injuries piled up just ten games into the season, it became ever more apparent that some adjustments to play style and slight tweaks to systems were needed. They couldn’t continue to try and play the exact way they had in the 2025-26 season, where they ended their seven-year playoff drought on the back of their young superstars and stable of insulating veterans.

So, what were some of those changes that the team seemingly made for their game against the Flyers to end their skid?

“I think it got to a point where everyone in the locker room was just really sick of it,” Cutter Gauthier said at Ducks practice on Monday. “We just kept it pretty simple. Obviously, it was a loud, emotional game for a handful of us, and I think that got us going a bit.”

Breaking pucks out of the defensive zone has arguably been the weakest area of Anaheim’s game during the opening stretch of the 2026-27 season. Early in defensive zone coverage sequences, as a team, they’ve arguably improved in the small areas of the zone, eliminating time and space for attackers, winning puck battles, and taking shooting and passing lanes away.

However, through the first ten games, once they win possession of loose pucks, they’ve struggled mightily to clear beyond the defensive blue. It’s no secret the Ducks have one of the youngest and least experienced bluelines in the NHL this season, and they’ve yet to run through the game reps necessary to diagnose opposing forechecks and make the most optimal outlet reads. The forwards on the ice in those instances needed to provide more predictable and consistent support for those young blueliners.

Oftentimes, in an effort to keep pucks moving on breakouts, Ducks defensemen would rim pucks to the near and far-side halfwalls in hopes their wingers would win races and battles for loose pucks and keep them moving north. However, those wingers too often lost those races and battles, while their supporting forwards flew the zone in hopes of sparking transition offense. Second touches out wouldn’t find them, leading to extended defensive zone time, breakdowns, sorting issues, and ultimately, goals against.

“I don’t think the D and the forwards were connected,” Gautheir said. “We were kind of doing our own thing, and we weren’t playing to our structure, and we weren’t playing to our strengths.”

In their last game against the Flyers, all three forwards came down the rails to the hashmarks in their end, shortening the distance needed for their retrieving defensemen to connect on outlets and offering better ensuing support for the new strong-side winger or puck-carrying center. When opposing pinching defensemen were successful in halting progression up ice, the center wouldn’t engage in puck battles or leave the zone, but would instead retreat to the middle of the slot to thwart any potential counters as wingers would battle pucks to neutral.

The Ducks’ power play drove their early-season success in the first five games, when they posted a 4-1-0 record and converted six goals on 16 attempts (37.5%). With some injuries, personnel shuffling, and increased opposing aggression on the PK, Anaheim’s power play converted just once on their next 16 opportunities (6.2%) over their five-game losing streak.

It’s clear that captain Mikael Granlund has become the engine when the Ducks have the man-advantage. He’s critical when the power play needs to establish possession as the second touch on the wall after entry, as his details and precision lead to killers retreating into their coverage positions, affording his team the necessary ice to set up and operate.

Granlund was effective from the bumper, finding soft ice, supporting, and navigating small areas on Saturday, but when he was injured for their game against the Bruins and struggled to maintain that level in the three following games, the Ducks power play wasn’t as cohesive and instinctual.

Moving forward, the remaining four members of the Ducks’ top power play unit will need to shoulder more responsibility to mitigate if Granlund is unable to drive success with the same consistency at any point or for any reason.

This isn’t really a tactics adjustment, but heading into the season, it was clear that the Ducks would only go as far as their star players (Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, Beckett Sennecke, Jackson LaCombe) would take them.

Carlsson produced just three points (1-2=3) through the five-game losing streak and failed to “take over” any game the way that modern NHL stars of his caliber and importance are expected to when big momentum shifts are needed. He did exactly that in Saturday’s win, where the Flyers matched their top pair (Travis Sanheim and Oliver Bonk) against him, and he answered with a big goal to kick off the Ducks’ scoring, bringing them within one, and orchestrated what became the game-winner, tallying an assist on the power play with a deceptive shot-pass to Sennecke at the goal mouth.

Carlsson was dangerous every time he touched the puck on Saturday, he played well enough off-puck in the neutral and defensive zones, and when he was on the ice at 5v5, the Ducks held a 51% xGF share.

Gauthier isn’t a play driver, in that he doesn’t dictate flow or pace when he has the puck on his stick. However, on Saturday, he was providing needed impacts off-puck, both on the offensive and defensive sides. He used his speed and angling knowledge to backcheck efficiently and purposefully, engaging through attackers’ hands and winning possession. He translated that ability to the forecheck, whether deep in the offensive zone as an F1 or in the neutral zone as an F2 or F3. His goals will come, but when they aren’t, it’s encouraging to see him impact games with other aspects of his skillset.

Opposite to Carlsson, when the Ducks needed momentum shifts, Sennecke was attempting to create opportunities single-handedly, which led to some chances for Anaheim, but his carelessness at times led to even more chances for opponents. His ability to delegate at times and trust linemates at other points will help him contain himself and render his skillset even more dangerous when it can be leveraged for quick-strike offense.

However encouraging the adjustments made were for the Ducks in order to snap their losing streak, they’ll need those efforts on a more consistent basis and to make other significant adjustments as well.

Their net-front defense still needs a great deal of refinement, especially in the midst of expected, extended cycle sequences and on the penalty kill, where misreads at the top of the zone lead to attackers left open in front of the net to screen, tip, and bury rebounds from perimeter shots.

Traditionally, Lukas Dostal plays a dependable and reliable brand of goalie. This season, along with parts of the latter half of the one prior, he’s allowing “soft” goals on a more consistent basis. He’s not one of the NHL’s elite goaltenders, and he’s not being paid to be, so those can be forgiven on occasion, but behind a team as young and volatile as the Ducks are and have been over the last handful of seasons, a reliance on him making the saves he’s “supposed” to will go a long way toward the Ducks realizing their overall potential for the rest of this season.

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