Takeaways from the Ducks 4-2 Loss to the Bruins
· Yahoo Sports
Before heading out for a four-game road trip to the Tri-State area, the Anaheim Ducks hosted the Boston Bruins on Friday night at Honda Center.
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The Ducks are coming off a disappointing 4-2 loss to the basement-dwelling Calgary Flames on Tuesday, while the Bruins came into this game on a three-game winning streak, outscoring opponents by a total of 17-5.
Game #7: Ducks vs. Bruins Gameday Preview (10/16/26)
Takeaways from the Ducks 4-2 Loss to the Flames
Anaheim was without their captain, Mikael Granlund, for this game, who is listed as “day-to-day” with an upper-body injury. With both Granlund and center Ryan Poehling unavailable for this game, head coach Joel Quenneville inserted Cutter Gauthier, who had missed the Ducks’ previous game with his own upper-body injury, at second-line center and dressed talented rookie winger Nikita Klepov.
Here’s how the Ducks lined up to start this game:
Killorn-Carlsson-Klepov
Nesterenko-Gauthier-Sennecke
Vatrano-McQueen-Caulfield
Greer-Washe-Malott
LaCombe-Warren
Mintyukov-Luneau
Hinds-Helleson
Lukas Dostal got the start for the Ducks for the sixth time in seven games to open the season and stopped 18 of 22 shots. He was opposed by Michael DiPietro in the Boston crease, who stopped 25 of 27.
“A little bit of our details we lost towards the end of the second and the third,” defenseman Jackson LaCombe said after the game. “Then we couldn’t score on the power play. That definitely hurt us. So, we just got to be more disciplined and sharper in our execution.”
Game NotesAfter 40 minutes, the Ducks were seemingly in control of this game and dictating 5v5 play. Special teams had been the Ducks’ driving factor toward their early success this season, but this game flipped that script entirely, as their power play didn’t convert on any of their five opportunities and their penalty kill allowed three goals on four attempts.
Cutter Gauthier: Gauthier hadn’t played center for an entire game since he debuted in the NHL in the spring of 2024. He didn’t miss a beat in this game, proving to be the true goal line to goal line centerman that Quenneville’s systems require. His skating ability in defensive zone coverage rapidly eliminated time and space for attackers, and he did well to recover from broken exits and fill lanes while backtracking to the top of the crease.
He translated his off-puck prowess to breakouts, where he put himself in positions to receive second passes out of the zone while at full speed, and when he was transporting in neutral ice, he did well to navigate sticks and bodies while maintaining possession. If Gauthier can stick as the second-line center or fill in for spurts, he will solve a lot of the Ducks’ roster construction question marks early in the year.
Power Play: Perhaps they missed Mikael Granlund’s detailed presence. Perhaps Boston’s PK and coaching staff found some flaws in Anaheim’s tactics. Perhaps a combination of the two, compounded with a foreign (to this season) lack of execution, but Anaheim had difficulty gaining clean entries and finding time and space along the perimeter.
Regardless of the entry wrinkle they attempted, the Ducks struggled to keep pucks moving down the wall and into a setup after the trailer dished to the outside after gaining blue. They lacked the decisiveness to which we’d become accustomed within their structure and reverted to rimming pucks behind the net to incite battles elsewhere in the zone, battles they often lost before Boston cleared the zone.
Nikita Klepov: On the Ducks top line for the first time in his two-game career, Klepov was afforded the time and space to operate that he wasn’t in his debut, as in this game, he played alongside Leo Carlsson, who garners ample attention, and Alex Killorn, who provides veteran details to maintain possession and keeps pucks moving north by finding linemates in space.
Klepov was able to display aspects of why the Ducks decided to make the trade to draft him and eventually decide to have him start the season in the NHL. He was smart, tenacious, and manipulative with the puck on his stick and cycling. He found Carlsson in space multiple times, unlocking a bit of Carlsson’s cycle potential, and seemed to generate quality opportunities at will, especially from below the dots. His composure and dictation were far beyond what is expected from a young rookie in his second career game.
Breakouts: At 5v5, the area where the Ducks had struggled most coming into this one was on their breakout and exit sequences. Though they deploy a blueline consisting of six players 25 years old and younger, they showed more composure and confidence in corners and behind their net on retrievals.
Their ability to draw forecheckers low, thwart them, and buy time for their outlets to gain position or find open ice led to cleaner exits than displayed through the first six games, an encouraging sign moving forward.
Next, the Ducks will head to the New York metropolitan area to start their four-game road trip, beginning on Monday against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden at 4 pm PST.
Ducks Roster Updates: Poehling to IR, McQueen Recalled, Helleson to Debut, Gauthier Day-to-day
Takeaways from the Ducks 4-2 Win over the Flames