Joel Quenneville didn’t bother with the usual routine on Saturday. When asked who would start in goal for the Ducks, the answer came with extra weight.
“Brossoit,” Quenneville said with emphasis, naming called-up AHL San Diego goaltender Laurent Brossoit for Sunday’s game against the Ottawa Senators at Honda Center.
That choice meant more than a simple lineup note. It came after a brutal stretch for Anaheim, which has dropped seven of its last eight and has been leaking goals at an alarming rate. The Ducks have allowed 21 goals in their last four games, 29 in their last six and 36 over the last eight while going 1-6-1.
Quenneville made it clear he sees the problem as bigger than the man in net. When asked whether either regular goalie was hurt or whether he wanted something different, he answered, “It’s an opportunity.”
The message landed after a week in which Anaheim’s defensive structure cracked in ways that were impossible to ignore. The Ducks gave up six goals to the last-place Vancouver Canucks, who had been winless for 10 games before Tuesday, and then watched another multi-goal lead disappear on Thursday.
“Pucks are going in too easily,” Quenneville said after that loss. “I think it’s a group of five, with the puck, where we leave it, where we have to start to have to defend from it - we’re at a disadvantage."
The goaltenders took the blame in the box score, but the numbers show a team giving up far too much in front of them. Against Vancouver, Lukáš Dostál faced his second-highest expected goals against of the season at 4.74 xGA per Natural Stat Trick and allowed six goals, his most in nine starts. It was also his worst goals saved above expected mark so far, and the fourth time in nine starts that his xGSA was worse than one full goal.
Dostál saw 12 high-danger chances, his most of the season, and allowed only one high-danger goal. The other five came from distance. Public model data doesn’t account for screens, turnovers or other play details beyond shot location.
“Every play matters,” Dostál said. “It starts from the puck drop until the end, including me, including everyone.
It’s still the plays that's just added up, if it's the penalties, if it's a bad save, if it's a bad rebound, if it's a bad pass, and all those little plays. It always adds up.”
Ville Husso’s night against Buffalo was rough in a different way. He faced his second-highest expected goals against of the season at 4.19 xGA per Natural Stat Trick and gave up seven goals, the most he has allowed this year. It was the second time in his four starts that his xGSA was in the negative, and he allowed five high-danger goals on 11 high-danger chances.
“Every goal had a different flavor to it,” Quenneville said Saturday. “Sometimes the one night was penalties.
The other night off the rush. I think our rush defending was poor, and I think that might have been the one flavor-we got to be better off the rush defending.”
The Ducks know the issue isn’t just about one or two saves. Still, there are moments when a stop is mandatory, especially when a lead has already slipped away. Anaheim is 1-4-1 at home, and four of those five losses came after the Ducks blew multi-goal leads.
At the same time, the workload in front of the goalies has been relentless. At five-on-five, Anaheim ranks eighth-worst in shot attempts allowed per 60 minutes, sixth-worst in goals against per 60, fourth-worst in expected goals against per 60 and third-worst in high-danger chances allowed per 60.
That’s why the move to Brossoit reads as a warning shot to the whole group, not just the netminders. The Ducks need cleaner back-door coverage, better zone exits and sharper rush defense, or Sunday’s game against Ottawa could follow the same script.
“Just can’t happen,” Leo Carlsson said Thursday. “Seven goals is obviously terrible. Have to help out Husso more.”
Cutter Gauthier pointed to the same issue from a different angle.
“I think we’re a little disconnected right now,” Gauthier said Thursday. “I think the biggest thing right now is just simplifying things, playing a very predictable game so everyone can read off each other really well. I think it’s just a little bit disconnected.”
Quenneville’s decision fit that mood. Starting Brossoit wasn’t just a change in goal. It was a clear message to a team that has let too many games get away from it.
“I think that everybody’s part of it,” Quenneville said.
In Other News...
Ducks Prospects Just Delivered A Gulls Win Anaheim Fans Should Notice
The San Diego Gulls finally got their first shootout win of the season Saturday night, edging the Colorado Eagles 3-2 at Pechanga Arena San Diego in a game that had a little bit of everything for Anaheim fans keeping tabs on the organizations pipeline. There were points from Matthew Phillips, Anton Wahlberg, Lucas Pettersson and Nico Myatovic, a group that gave the Ducks development system a noticeable presence in a tight, competitive game.
Tomas Suchanek also gave the Gulls exactly the kind of goaltending performance that can change a night for a young team, turning aside 32 shots in his season debut and helping San Diego survive to the skills competition. The shootout ended with captain Ryan Carpenter delivering the deciding goal, a result that mattered not just for the standings in the American Hockey League, but for the kind of confidence Anaheim wants to see from its prospects and depth players as the season moves along. [Read more 🡒]
Ducks Suddenly Have A Nick Jensen Problem They Need To Solve
Nick Jensens first month with the Ducks has not gone the way either side likely envisioned. After being placed on waivers, the veteran defenseman went unclaimed, according to Elliotte Friedman, leaving Anaheim with a roster decision that now shifts from the waiver wire to the bigger question of what comes next for a player the club brought in to help stabilize the blue line.
Jensen has appeared in only three of Anaheims first 13 games and is logging fewer minutes than his career norm, which makes his role harder to justify in the short term. With the waiver deadline passed, the Ducks have to sort out how they want to use him from here, and whether a stint in San Diego becomes part of the answer. [Read more 🡒]
Ducks Suddenly Have A New Blue Line Decision To Make
Pavel Mintyukov is back on the active roster and expected to skate alongside Noah Warren against Ottawa, giving the Ducks a fresh look on the blue line at a time when their defensive depth is suddenly shifting. The return matters not just because Mintyukov has been out, but because Anaheim is also getting Troy Terry and Ian Moore back on the practice ice after season-long absences, a sign that the lineup picture is starting to change in multiple places at once.
Terrys return to full practice is the bigger long-term development, even if his season debut is still not immediate, and it adds another layer to a roster that has had to patch together answers for months. On the flip side, Nick Jensen cleared waivers and was sent to San Diego, a move that opens space while also underscoring how quickly the Ducks are having to make decisions as healthy bodies start to pile up again. [Read more 🡒]