The Anaheim Ducks fell 3-1 to the Boston Bruins last night, marking their third straight loss.
They were able to put up a good fight against Boston, and opened the scoring in the third period, with Mason McTavish burying a rebound in-close. Only about a minute later though, Matthew Poitras tied the game off a rush chance for the Bruins, before then beating John Gibson again only a little later, to put Boston ahead. While the Ducks pressed to tie it, Brad Marchand buried an empty netter with only a few minutes remaining, securing the win for the Bruins.
So as of now, the Ducks hold just a 1-4-0 record to begin the season.
On the surface, it looks pretty bleak. In a year where the team really needs to see some better results, they haven’t gotten them so far. They were outshot over their first two games, and now find themselves on a three-game losing skid since then. But despite the record, Anaheim is playing some pretty decent hockey.
Over their last three-game losing skid, the Ducks have actually outshot their opponents by a margin of 93-77, an average of about 31-26 per game. Contrast that against their numbers from last season, where Anaheim was outshot by an average of 39-28 per game, and it’s a pretty massive difference.
Strength of schedule also can’t be forgotten. In their first five games of the year, Anaheim has faced three of the Final-4 teams from the 2023 playoffs, along with the defending Presidents' Trophy winners.
Then factor in that as of the loss to Boston, the Ducks are without four current roster players. Alex Killorn will provide an immediate boost to the top-nine upon his return, while Jamie Drysdale remains a huge part of the team’s future, and Isac Lundestrom and Brock McGinn are both very solid depth pieces.
Perhaps the biggest reason for optimism is that it seems like the majority young talent brought into the lineup has already made an impact.
Leo Carlsson has looked great and provides an immediate boost to the top line, despite the somewhat puzzling decision to occasionally keep him out of the lineup for the first half of the season.
Meanwhile, only five games into the year, it’s not an exaggeration to say Pavel Mintyukov may be on his way to establishing himself as the team’s most important defenseman. Jackson LaCombe has also worked very well in a pairing with Radko Gudas, and currently holds the highest expected goals for percentage at even strength of any player on the team, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.
In all fairness, Bo Groulx has only been fine, while Tristan Luneau may not be quite ready to join the lineup full-time. But between Carlsson, Mintyukov and LaCombe, Anaheim is already a lot more dangerous.
That’s also not factoring in that Mason McTavish could be poised for a breakout year, and has already established himself as the team’s full-time second line center. Lukas Dostal has also shown to be ready for a full-time NHL role, and could already push for a larger workload than that of a traditional NHL backup.
Of course, there are still some issues, as expected.
The Ducks are having trouble scoring right now, though we can probably expect the goals to come, based on the way the team has been playing. It’s not the lack of chances that’s sunk them during the three-game losing streak, it’s just a matter of the other team capitalizing on opportunities, and Anaheim failing to do so.
Trevor Zegras has only a single assist in the five games, and while he’s starting slow, that’s unsustainably low production. He’s been on the ice for 57 shots for to this point across all strengths, and looked more dangerous with Carlsson up on the top line.
The team will also need more support from their bottom-six, but again, the Ducks are missing several pieces from their forward group, and the returns of Killorn, Lundestrom and McGinn (as well as using Carlsson every night) would go a long way to helping that.
Special teams also really haven't helped, with both the power play and penalty kill not quite where they need to be. But five games in, there’s a lot of time to work that out.
There’s a very different feel to the team so far. You haven’t really had to question the team’s effort level or intensity, and it seems like they’ve been continuing to improve over the course of their games so far. The team also isn't giving up the quality of chances they so often would last season, with both the coaching change and overhaul of the defense group making a difference.
Again, nobody’s expecting the Ducks to be a playoff team, but seeing their young talent develop is the most important part of this season. The team being able to hold their own, and having a chance to win every night, is something that just wasn’t really the case through a lot of last season.
So while their record may not reflect it, there’s a lot to be excited about with the Ducks this season.
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