On the night before Thanksgiving, the Anaheim Ducks [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/anaheim-ducks] hosted the Vancouver Canucks [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/vancouver-canucks] on Wednesday evening at Honda Center. This was the Ducks’ fifth game of a six-game homestand. Entering play, they’d won three of their first four games of the homestand, after losing three in a row on the road just prior. The Canucks have made headlines lately, with rumors circulating about several of their veteran players potentially being on the trade block. They came into this game on a three-game losing streak in which they’d been outscored 17-9. Lukas Dostal Day-to-Day with Lower-Body Injury, Updates on Mikael Granlund and Ryan Poehling [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/anaheim-ducks/latest-news/lukas-dostal-day-to-day-with-lower-body-injury-updates-on-mikael-granlund-and-ryan-poehling] Game #23: Ducks vs. Canucks Gameday Preview (11/26/25) [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/anaheim-ducks/game-day/game-23-ducks-vs-canucks-gameday-preview-11-26-25] The Ducks announced before Wednesday’s morning skate that Lukas Dostal would miss this game with a lower-body injury, giving him a “day-to-day” designation. Beyond the crease, the Ducks went with the same lineup that earned them their latest 4-3 OT victory over the Vegas Golden Knights [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/vegas-golden-knights] on Saturday. Petr Mrazek got the nod as the Ducks’ starting netminder in this game and saved 23 of the 27 shots he faced. In Vancouver’s crease was rookie goaltender Nikita Tolopilo, who stopped 37 of 41. GAME NOTES “We had some good stretches there, but I thought we were inconsistent with our possession game tonight, lost a lot of pucks, didn’t influence enough pucks,” head coach Joel Quenneville said after the game.”I think that every game's gonna be hard. We talk about that, and that was an example of what it's like every night. You got to play right to the end, and it's a battle. You got to know that, you know you can't give them anything. You got to make ‘em earn it.” The score would tell you the Ducks got off to a poor start, but the underlying numbers and eye test would tell a different story. The Ducks were firing offensively through the first two periods, especially at 5v5, but fell victim to a dialed-in goaltender and some opportunistic counterattacks from Vancouver. They continued their play into the second and went into the second intermission having tied the score at 3-3. The third period only saw 9:37 minutes of 5v5 play, as penalties disrupted much of the overall game flow. Much like in the Ducks' most recent loss against the Senators, the Canucks got a late goal off a rebound from a point shot and sealed it with an empty netter. “I think today we did a good job, we came out hot, had a lot of chances,” Jackson LaCombe said after the game about giving up two early goals. “Just a few bounces didn’t go our way, and that’s how it goes sometimes.” Cycle: The Ducks, contrary to their strengths and habits from the first quarter of the season, were the most dangerous on the cycle in this game. They were challenging retrieving defenders and forcing turnovers to gain possession on the forecheck. Once they had possession, they kept their feet moving, defensemen activated (especially early), they exploited soft ice and perimeter shooting lanes, and after shots, they were tenacious when crashing the net. Breakouts: The Ducks were a bit lackadaisical early on breakouts, often relying on rims up the right wall. The list of areas in which Quinn Hughes thrives is long, but one that stuck out in this game was that he’d read those rims or stretch outlets and jump in front of the winger in the neutral zone to pick it off. The Ducks did well to adjust as the game went on, often seeking out the curling or streaking center with speed, who was then able to connect and build plays through the neutral zone. Power Play: The Ducks went 1-6 on the power play in this one. Their only goal came off a broken play high on the wall in the offensive zone, in which the Ducks were lucky to come away with possession, and Cutter Gauthier was able to find LaCombe with an extraordinary amount of time and space in the slot. The rest of the power plays consisted of struggling to gain entry, and when the Ducks did, their secondary passes, once pucks got to the wall, didn’t connect, as the flank was often swarmed with multiple pressures, and the puck carriers couldn’t find their outs. Entries have become an issue as teams are pressuring the Ducks more heavily over the entire 200-foot surface when on the man-advantage. Another wrinkle on the power play is that Chris Kreider is now taking draws to mitigate Leo Carlsson’s poor faceoff numbers. LaCombe-Helleson: The numbers will tell you that Jackson LaCombe and Drew Helleson had a decent game. With them on the ice at 5v5, the Ducks won the shot attempt battle 17-12, the shots on goal battle 10-3, and held 73.4% of the expected goals share. The pair generated a lot of offense, but were also on the ice for the Canucks’ third and fourth goals, and made some ill-advised mistakes. “I think we can be stronger, and for us D, we can just box out better,” LaCombe said of needing to improve at the net-front. “Get in front of more pucks. A few hit us there tonight, but that’s just how it goes.” LaCombe has become a high-risk/high-reward player at both ends of the ice. In this game, he was creative, active, engaged against the rush, and made a tremendous outlet pass to spark the Ducks’ third goal. He is also hit-and-miss with puck management and net-front defending. The Ducks like to front the opposing net-front attacker and block wrist shots from the perimeter, but when that strong defender misses, the weak side defender and goaltender are outnumbered, as was the case on the Canucks’ fourth goal. Helleson, typically reliable and sound fundamentally, had a tough time recovering after a missed neutral zone pinch and got walked by Conor Garland on Vancouver’s third goal. On their fourth goal, he was simply beaten to the crease and outmuscled by Kiefer Sherwood, who buried a loose puck in the crease. Those were Helleson’s only noticeable mistakes, as he did well to kill plays and advance pucks out of his end regularly, but they were costly mistakes, nonetheless. The Ducks will look to bounce back on Friday, as they’ll host their rival Los Angeles Kings [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/los-angeles-kings] in the teams’ annual Black Friday battle. Beckett Sennecke Is More Than A Manchild [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/anaheim-ducks/latest-news/beckett-sennecke-is-more-than-a-manchild] Pavel Mintyukov Returns to Ducks Lineup Impressing, Potentially Shifting Conversation [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/anaheim-ducks/latest-news/pavel-mintyukov-returns-to-ducks-lineup-impressing-potentially-shifting-conversation] Takeaways from the Ducks 4-3 OT Win over the Golden Knights [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/anaheim-ducks/game-day/takeaways-from-the-ducks-4-3-ot-win-over-the-golden-knights-1]
