To begin one of their final road trips of the season, the Anaheim Ducks headed to British Columbia to take on the Vancouver Canucks, the NHL’s 32nd-ranked team.
The Ducks were coming off one of the more entertaining games of the 2025-26 season on Sunday, when they defeated the Buffalo Sabres 6-5 in overtime. The Ducks were looking to extend their Pacific Division lead over the Edmonton Oilers and extend their winning streak to three games.
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The Canucks entered this game as the NHL’s bottom team by a sizable 15-point margin and the runaway leader to enter May’s NHL Draft Lottery with the best odds to win the #1 overall pick. They had lost three of their last four games coming into this one.
Radko Gudas re-entered the Ducks lineup in this game after serving his five-game suspension for kneeing Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews on March 12. As a result, and after a few subpar performances, Olen Zellweger observed this game from the press box as a healthy scratch.
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Here’s how the Ducks lined up in this game:
Kreider-Carlsson-Terry
Killorn-Granlund-Sennecke
Viel-Poehling-Gauthier
McTavish-Washe-Harkins
LaCombe-Trouba
Mintyukov-Carlson
Moore-Gudas
Lukas Dostal got his 48th start of the season in this game and stopped 27 of the 30 shots he faced. In the Vancouver crease stood Kevin Lankanen, who saved 29 of 33.
This game is yet another where the Ducks have embraced their track meet style, where they exchange chances, with the confidence that they can outscore their problems, outchance their opponents, and outfinish. Jansen Harkens sustained an upper-body injury early in this game, after just three shifts, and Beckett Sennecke didn’t see the ice for the final 17:38 of this game due to a poor turnover.
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This game was relatively even in shots on goal (26-24) and shot attempts at 5v5 (49-49), but the Canucks got the majority of the quality chances, winning the expected goals battle 3.6-3.19.
Breakouts: The Ducks had struggles advancing pucks beyond their defensive blueline against Vancouver’s relatively passive forecheck. The Canucks’ defensemen were calculated with their pinches, and F2 challenged against set breakouts, causing multiple turnovers at the Ducks’ blue that they then turned into quick odd-man counters with forwards flying up ice.
John Carlson: Carlson’s dynamism isn’t what it may have once been, but his efficient movements in transition, lane reading, and clever manipulation of defensive structures led to his high point total in this game and created several chances. He’s gained enough reps throughout his career to understand exactly how much pressure he can apply deep in the offensive zone before needing to retreat and switch back toward the blueline.
Mason McTavish: McTavish is still earning his way back into a more prominent role on this team heading down the stretch. In this game, with traditional winger responsibilities, he was careful with pucks, pressured pucks in every zone, and was a part of a few extended cycle sequences. He capitalized with his quick release, earning himself a game-winning tally, but in a game where Sennecke didn’t see much ice in the third period, and Harkins sustained an injury early, one would like to see McTavish grab more of his shifts by the horns, driving play, winning battles in small areas, and generating chances.
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Beckett Sennecke: Sennecke’s confidence and ability have, in turn, given the Ducks coaching staff confidence in him to outproduce his mistakes, learn from them, and avoid repeating them in the future. He made a poor decision on the rush in overtime that led to a game-ending goal against the Philadelphia Flyers a week prior to this game, and he made a similar, yet less dangerous mistake that led to a tying goal early in the third.
It was a rookie mistake made by a rookie forward that could have found its way to a trailing Killorn, who could have gotten off a high-danger shot. However, it wasn’t the most optimal read, as the far side defenseman had activated, so if that pass didn’t connect, it would likely go the other way on an odd-man rush, as it did.
One hopes he’s earned enough of the coaching staff’s trust and impacts plays positively more often than not, that this won’t lead to a decrease in role or healthy scratch. The Ducks will likely need the instant offense he can provide on a shift-by-shift basis.
The Ducks will next head to Alberta to take on former teammate Ryan Strome and the Calgary Flames on Thursday.
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