The Ducks’ preseason ended with a 6-2 loss to the Kings on Saturday afternoon, and the third period plus special teams told the story. Anaheim had its opening-night group more or less intact for the matinee, but the game slipped away after the Ducks were in a solid spot halfway through.
Lukas Dostal got the start and made 14 saves on 20 shots. Across the ice, Darcy Kuemper stopped 17 of 19.
At 5-on-5, the game was fairly even, with both teams creating chances off the rush and through the cycle. The separation came on special teams: Anaheim went 1-for-2, while Los Angeles scored twice on four chances.
Joel Quenneville said afterward, “It was a pretty even game,” Ducks head coach Joel Quenneville said after the game. “We were looking like we were in a pretty good spot there halfway through the game, and they got a couple on us. And then, I didn’t want to think about the other night (against San Jose), but certainly we gotta stem the tide there when we lose the momentum of the game like that.
“But, hey, it’s a preseason game. We tried a lot of things in lines again tonight. So, we’ve got a week to prepare on the lineup and getting set and prepared to start the season on a positive note.”
Anaheim was missing several players because of injury or illness. Ian Moore was out with a lower-body injury and is expected to miss another 1-3 weeks.
AJ Greer was listed as day-to-day with an upper-body issue and is hopeful to make his opening-night Ducks debut. Drew Helleson also remains day-to-day with a lower-body injury, and Pavel Mintyukov sat out because of illness.
The Ducks opened with these lines and pairs:
Killorn-Carlsson-Gauthier
Sennecke-Granlund-Klepov
Myatovic-Poehling-Vatrano
Nesterenko-Washe-Caulfield
LaCombe-Hinds
Mitchell-Luneau
Solberg-Jensen
There were still some clear positives for Anaheim, even in a preseason game that turned sour late. The fourth line stood out in limited minutes, playing just seven minutes together at 5-on-5 and winning those shifts convincingly.
They generated quality looks, pressured hard on the forecheck, controlled the boards, and made life miserable for the Kings in the defensive zone. Judd Caulfield, in particular, continues to make a case for himself and may be pushing toward an opening-night roster spot or even lineup role.
The defensive-zone work, though, remains a concern. Even with a new look on the blue line, the Ducks are still running into the same problems around the net front: sorting out assignments, making the right reads, and showing enough bite when pucks move across the top of the zone. When defensemen step down to challenge puck carriers and leave the net-front forward alone, Anaheim can look organized on paper - but if the puck gets through, Dostal is left exposed.
The power play also showed some of the structure Anaheim appears to want this season. For the first time in years, the Ducks are stacking more of their best offensive pieces on one top unit and leaning on that group for most of the two-minute advantage.
Mikael Granlund is being used in the bumper spot to help collapse the penalty kill and open space for Jackson LaCombe, Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier and Beckett Sennecke around the perimeter. The Ducks also changed their breakout in this game, using more of a five-across look to move the puck up ice, a setup that echoed power-play breakouts from the early 2010s.
Final rosters are due on Sept. 28 at 2 pm PST, but Anaheim still has time before its season opener on Oct. 2 in Las Vegas to sort out the lineup and potentially get players back from injury.
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