The Anaheim Ducks finished the second game of their road trip with a bang, winning 5-2 over the Nashville Predators. Multiple Ducks, including Ross Johnston, Jacob Trouba, and Cutter Gauthier, had multi-point outings in Nashville. The Ducks will continue their road trip for three more games.
Related: Projected Lineups For Ducks vs Bruins- 10/23/25
This week in Ducks News & Rumors, we will take a look at Johnston’s standout performance on Tuesday, the slate of road games ahead, and an update on injured players.
Ross Johnston Notches a Gordie Howe Hat Trick
In his team’s game against the Predators, Johnston was a surprise superstar. While the fourth liner normally flies under the radar, he showed up in a spectacular fashion on Tuesday evening, scoring the first goal of the game. In the second period, he registered the secondary assist on Beckett Sennecke’s goal, as well as on Troy Terry’s in the third period. The forward completed his Gordie Howe Hat Trick (a goal, an assist, and a fight) when he dropped the gloves with Nashville’s Michael McCarron and was assessed a five-minute major penalty. Johnston was given the team’s Bombay jacket, the item given to the player of the game after a win.
Terry’s goal was his first of the season, and hopefully, it will give him a little momentum to get back on track with his offense again. Newcomer Ryan Poehling registered his first assist of the season on the goal. Trouba also got his first and second points of the season with assists on Leo Carlsson’s and Gauthier’s goals.
The Ducks’ Road Trip Continues
Tonight, the Ducks will play the Boston Bruins, who are 3-5-0 on the season. It may be one of their easier games of the road trip, as the Bruins have a losing record and are currently on a five-game losing streak. Ducks’ head coach Joel Quenneville said, however, “I feel we’re playing a very dangerous opponent tonight. We expect them to be pretty competitive tonight.”
They will then head down to Florida in the days after. The team visits the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday, then has a two-day break before playing the defending Florida Panthers on Tuesday. The Lightning carry a losing record as well, sitting at 1-3-2, 30th in the league. Hopefully, they are able to pull out a win before visiting the Panthers, who are 4-4-0 on the season and a tougher team to match up against. If they can play with the same speed, skill, and offensive prowess as they did against the Predators, they should easily be able to round off the road trip with a few more wins. The Ducks return to play at home on Oct. 31 when the Detroit Red Wings visit.
Ducks Injury Updates– Kreider, Strome, Harkins
Chris Kreider missed Tuesday’s game due to illness and was listed as day-to-day. It is unclear whether or not he will return for the game against the Bruins. Forward Ryan Strome is still on injured reserve (IR) and is not expected to play on this road trip. CBS Sports lists him as out until at least Oct. 31, when the Ducks return to Honda Center. Jansen Harkins is on IR as well and reported to be out until Nov. 22, although he did travel with the team this time around. Should he make a miraculous recovery, we may see his season debut in the state of Florida.
Some line shuffling will need to happen once Strome and Harkins return, as they usually play on either the third or fourth lines. We will likely see younger, more inexperienced players like Sam Colangelo, Nikita Nesterenko, and Beckett Sennecke take turns being healthy scratches to make room for those two.
The Ducks have started the season with some good momentum and, hopefully, will keep it up as October comes to a close. For all things hockey, keep an eye on The Hockey Writers as the NHL season progresses.
