The Anaheim Ducks opened their 2024-25 season (as the last team in the NHL to do so) on the road against the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night.
Game #1: Ducks vs. Sharks Gameday Preview
The Ducks final pre-season game was held eight days before their season kicked off.
After over a week of practices deploying the same lineup, Ducks defenseman Jackson LaCombe was a late scratch (illness) after participating in the team’s morning skate on Saturday.
Olen Zellweger filled in for LaCombe on the left side of newly appointed team captain Radko Gudas and on the team’s top power play unit. Pavel Mintyukov absorbed LaCombe’s penalty-killing duties.
Lukas Dostal got the start in the crease for the Ducks and recorded his second career shutout, stopping all 30 shots he faced in this game.
Fellow Czechia native Vitek Vanacek opposed Dostal in goal for the Sharks, who stopped 28 of 29 shots.
Here are my notes from this game:
Lukas Dostal: Aside from a couple of flurries around the net front (in which Dostal remained calm and square), Dostal seemed to see most of the perimeter shot attempts the Ducks defense allowed in this game.
Dostal displayed quality game management skills, aiding puck-retrievers and directing rebounds to safe areas of the ice.
“Pucks were hitting me,” Dostal said of his performance after the game. “The guys played a hell of a game, they blocked shots, they helped me out there, so it was a team effort.”
Penalty Kill: Assistant coach Brent Thompson overhauled the penalty kill scheme in the offseason, opting for a traditional diamond formation in an attempt to eliminate seam passes that plagued the Ducks’ 30th-ranked penalty kill from 2023-24.
“Brent’s done a little bit of a different system, which is going to take some time to iron out, but I thought we did a good job of clogging passing lanes and shooting lanes (on the penalty kill),” Ducks head coach Greg Cronin stated after the game.
The penalty killers limited puck movement to the top of the umbrella and collapsed deftly in front of the crease. It will be interesting to monitor how the structure holds up to teams more driven to attack the crease area on the power play, like the New York Rangers or Colorado Avalanche.
McGinn-Lundestrom-Leason: The Ducks’ fourth line performed like a prototypical fourth line on a contending team, suffocating the opposing breakouts and pressuring from the inside out with high energy. They were mostly matched up against the Sharks listed second line of Klim Kostin, Will Smith, and Fabian Zetterlund.
They deserved to be rewarded with Lundestrom’s game-winning goal in the third period.
“I think we just have to keep skating,” Lundestrom said post-game. “I know we all can skate pretty good and get pucks to the net.”
Power Play: As good as the Ducks penalty kill was, the power play was equally as ineffective, going zero for five and managing six shots on net.
The Sharks implemented a high-pressure wedge structure on their penalty kill that gave the Ducks fits. The Ducks will need to learn to read their outs and avoid getting sealed along the wall.
The Ducks will travel to Las Vegas to take on the Golden Knights (2-0-0) for their second game of a back-to-back on Sunday evening at 7 pm PST.
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