Just when you thought the Anaheim Ducks, who were fresh off back-to-back stinkers against the St. Louis Blues (a 6-2 defeat on Jan. 9) and the Philadelphia Flyers (a 6-0 defeat on Jan. 11), might enter a tailspin to start the second half of the season, they pulled a rabbit out of the hat and beat the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 in overtime Sunday night.
The upset win continued an up-and-down season for Anaheim, whose results and performance through 43 games have painted a perplexing picture of the club and the state of its season. That said, the win will certainly take the edge off a team that still faces three Eastern Conference powerhouses to finish the trip. Here are the key takeaways.
Depth Scoring and Goaltending Gave the Ducks a Chance
The top-six forward unit for this team has had very little to show for itself since Troy Terry exited the lineup prior to the game against the Calgary Flames. While his return remains unclear, the Ducks aren’t the same without him, a painful truth that reared its head in a series of losses last week.
More of the same occurred Sunday night, and it was depth players Jansen Harkins, Nikita Nesterenko, and Brian Dumoulin that got the Ducks on the board first. Gauthier would contribute the team’s final two goals, but without depth scoring, the Ducks don’t jump out to a lead that settles them into the contest. Against a dynamic team like the Hurricanes, it was so critical to get the first goal and put them on their heels.
They also don’t win that game if Lukáš Dostál doesn’t rebound from his tough outing against the Blues in the fashion that he did. He was stellar in Carolina with 35 saves. The performance pushed his goals-against average (GAA) to 2.89 and his save percentage (SV%) to .910, which sits 15th in the league amongst eligible goaltenders.
Emotional 24 Hours for Gauthier Ends in Stellar Fashion
Cutter Gauthier, less than 24 hours after he was relentlessly booed and heckled by both fans and Flyers players, delivered perhaps the best game of his young career against the Hurricanes. He didn’t get a lot of ice time – 12:29 – but he did plenty with it, including an early third-period goal to give the Ducks a 2-0 lead, as well as the game-winner in overtime after the Ducks relinquished the lead late in the final frame.
After picking up a Mason McTavish-tipped stretch pass that gave him the chance to enter the offensive zone with speed, Gauthier absolutely ripped a shot short side to beat goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov. He would beat Kochetkov again in overtime when he accepted a Jackson LaCombe feed from behind their own blue line, skated the puck all the way up ice, side-stepped Hurricanes defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere, and shot the puck against the grain. The largely solo effort was the perfect way for the Ducks, especially Gauthier, to end the weekend after an emotional and intense 24 hours that began with a riled-up Flyers fan base and ended with a silent Hurricanes one. One snipe and one solo rush up ice where he skated left and shot right. Those are what you call goal-scorers’ goals. He is at seven on the season and though his average time-on-ice (ATOI) is fairly low, he should get ample opportunity to get to 15 before his rookie season is out.
Jackson LaCombe Is Looking Like the Real Deal
Who had LaCombe on their bingo card as the Ducks’ most impressive young defenseman for the 2024-25 season? When you consider he is competing for that honor with Pavel Mintyukov, Olen Zellweger, and formerly Tristan Luneau (now playing for the San Diego Gulls in the American Hockey League), who were expected to command all the attention in that arena, there couldn’t have been many. All LaCombe has done in his sophomore season is put up numbers. He collected two huge assists in last night’s win and now sits at eight goals and 12 assists in 36 games played. That far and away leads Ducks defensemen; the next closest is Zellweger, who has 12 points total. His 20 points are tied with Gauthier for fourth on the Ducks in team scoring, and his average time-on-ice of 20:08 is second on the team, only behind Jacob Trouba (20:29). Since Dec. 1, he has played less than 19 minutes in a game just twice.
Related: Ducks September Series: 2024-25 Expectations for Jackson LaCombe
LaCombe’s play is speaking for itself, and he is earning every shift he is given by head coach Greg Cronin. He should continue to shine, even if the Ducks are wildly inconsistent offensively and defensively. He easily tops the list of players to be excited about as the Ducks begin the second half of the season.
A Tough Road Trip Continues
The 2024-25 schedule continues to be cruel to the Ducks. Yesterday’s win was their seventh game in 12 days to open 2025, which has included two sets of back-to-back contests. It’s been a perplexing schedule thus far that will only get more challenging over the next week with the Washington Capitals (Jan. 14), Tampa Bay Lightning (Jan. 16), and reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers (Jan. 18) to conclude the road trip.
The inconsistencies make the Ducks a bit of an enigma. They put together impressive wins over teams like the Winnipeg Jets, Edmonton Oilers, and New Jersey Devils recently, but got shut out by a Flyers team whose biggest liability is their goaltending. They go to the nation’s capital from here and will do their best to keep Alexander Ovechkin from inching closer to the all-time goals record.
