Ducks Quarter-Season Review: Goaltending carries Anaheim early, as offense finds identity, output

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Context has a funny way of coloring any set of statistics, especially when the numbers are broadly similar.

The 21-game starts for the Anaheim Ducks over the last two seasons look practically the same at a glance. In 2023, Anaheim opened with a 9-12-0 record for 18 points. This season, the Ducks are 9-9-3 for 21 points

However, observers would probably remark that Anaheim had a much better start to last season than this season, with some in the national media already sniffing around for a possible coaching change in Greg Cronin’s second season at the helm. 

Last season, the Ducks posted a six-game win streak in their first 15 games last season, whereas it took Anaheim 17 games this season just to win consecutive games for the first time.

In 2023, the Ducks were 5-4-0 in one-goal games, including a 3-0 overtime record. This season, the Ducks are 2-3-3 in one-goal games, including a 1-3 record in overtime games.

There are numerous ways to interpret those records. The 2023 Ducks could have been worse if the one-goal games and overtime broke the other direction. The 2024 Ducks could be better if those overtime games went the other way.

Ultimately, what’s most important for both seasons is what’s next.

After that scorching 15 game start last year, the Ducks lost their next eight matches and 13 of the ensuing 15. Along with numerous injuries to major players, Anaheim never recovered, as it finished with the second-worst record in franchise history.

On the other hand, this year’s Ducks seem to be building, with a 5-2-1 record in their last eight games. Anaheim is seventh in the NHL in goals scored over that stretch, and after a slow start, Trevor Zegras has seven points in the last six games.

“I think we’re driving through that direction and learning how to stay consistent in those areas,” Ducks captain Radko Gudas said. “We’re still a pretty young team, so we’re still learning in a lot of areas, but I really like the steps we’re making as a group since last year.”

The Ducks begin the next quarter of their season with the traditional Black Friday matinee, as the Los Angeles Kings come down for tomorrow’s Freeway Face-Off. The Kings took the first meeting, 4-1, on Oct. 20.

Before the Ducks turn to December, let’s check on Anaheim’s four biggest storylines in the first quarter of the season.

Goaltending Shines Through

The “Dost-Wall” stood tall to open the campaign for the Ducks, as Lukáš Dostál shouldered the load with aplomb for Anaheim early.

With veteran John Gibson out for the first 13 games of the season following a preseason appendectomy, Dostál started 11 games in that opening stretch and has posted an NHL high 13.7 goals saved above expected. Dostál is third in the league in shots against and saves, after topping both those categories in that 13-game period. However, Dostál has lost five of his last six starts.

Gibson has played five of eight games since his return, winning his first three starts for a 4-0-1 record with two 40-save performances.

“They’re both Grade A goalies,” Gudas said. “It’s awesome for us as a D corps to have two very solid guys that we can rely on back there. They make our life a lot easier. They make us look a lot better than sometimes we are. It’s awesome to have those two guys back there.”

Of all the Ducks’ metrics, the one that has shown the greatest improvement is goals against. Through 21 games last year, the Ducks were 25th-lowest with 73 allowed. This season, Anaheim is eighth-lowest with 62 goals allowed.

As Gudas alluded, Dostál in particular has made the Ducks look better defensively on nights where they were not winning the possession numbers. Anaheim is 31st in five-on-five shot share at 45.02%.

Offensive Woes

For as good as the goaltending has been, the biggest frustration for Anaheim night in, night out has been goal scoring. Anaheim is tied for 29th in all-situation and five-on-five goals scored.

The top-line message from the Ducks, particularly from Cronin, has been the need to generate more shot attempts. Even in a game where the Ducks had a season-high in shot attempts, a 4-2 home loss to Chicago, Cronin saw more opportunities for his team to drum up offense that they passed on.

“It’s going to be an odd comment, because I think we had a season-high 92 shot attempts tonight, but we could have shot the puck 20 more times,” Cronin said that night. “The only thing that’s an age-old expression is when you shoot the puck, good things happen. That’s a real simplistic way of saying it.”

“I just think it's a habit… Just mentally, it should be everything’s going to the net. It shouldn't have to be coached into them.”

Since that game, the Ducks have simplified their game into a more straightforward approach, which has bred positive results from secondary scorers. A week later, the Ducks had won three in a row and four of five games.

However, the Ducks’ top scorers have been snakebit.

Troy Terry leads the way with six goals and 15 points, but Terry has scored just one goal in his last 12 games. Last season’s leading scorer Frank Vatrano has four goals.

Zegras has tallied four goals and 10 points, including his first five-on-five strike of the season on Wednesday in Seattle.

Young Defensemen Rise

Another shining spot has been the ascension of the Ducks’ young defensive core.

Anaheim has had one young defenseman on each of its three defensive pairs for most of the season with 21-year-old Olen Zellweger, 20-year-old Pavel Mintyukov and 23-year-old Jackson LaCombe. Drew Helleson, 23, has come up from AHL San Diego and played the last five games.

Zellweger has been the biggest revelation of the three, going from a fill-in on opening night to a blue-line staple and power play quarterback. He leads the blue-liners with 10 points and four goals. Of Anaheim’s regular defensemen, he is the only one with positive possession numbers, 53.8% shot share in all situations. Zellweger owns a 48.3% shot share at five-on-five.

Where Minyukov was the rising offensive star last season, the young Russian has been increasingly relied on for tough defensive minutes this season, mostly paired with veteran Brian Dumoulin–the team’s best defensive defenseman thus far. Mintyukov is second on the team in five-on-five minutes.

“They’re not afraid to move the puck,” Gudas said. “They’re not afraid to move their feet with the puck. They’re a big help to our forwards being in the second layer or being first with the puck and leading the offense. 

“It’s fun the way they understand the game a little different than maybe us older guys are. I think it makes us the older guys a little younger when we see what they’re doing out there. They’ve got a lot of skill on their sticks. It’s fun for me to learn all they can do.”

Injuries Strike Early

Anaheim lost 304 man-games to injury last season, and unfortunately, that bug bit Anaheim over the last month.

• Defenseman Cam Fowler was put on injured reserve on Nov. 12. Fowler has missed Anaheim’s last nine games with an upper-body injury, but he returned to practice this week and travelled for the short road trip to Seattle.

• Forward Robby Fabbri underwent meniscus surgery, his fifth career knee operation, on Nov. 15 and is estimated to be out another four weeks. He was also put on injured reserve on Nov. 12.

• McTavish returned from an injured-reserve stint on Monday. He missed five games with an upper-body injury.

• Defenseman Urho Vaakanainen has missed the last six games with an upper-body injury. He hasn’t practiced with the team but is also not on injured reserve.

• Forward Brock McGinn has missed the last four games with a lower-body injury. He crashed into the boards in Dallas and has not returned. McGinn is also not on injured reserve.

• Forward Leo Carlsson is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. The 2023 No. 2 overall pick took a late hit and went down hard against Seattle on Monday. Carlsson did not return for the final 25 minutes of that game with an upper-body injury and did not travel to Seattle on Wednesday.