Ducks Double Up Kraken

Photo: AP

By Michael Walters

The Anaheim Ducks continued their road trip in Seattle against Kraken. Lukas Dostal was in net against Philipp Grubauer.

Cutter Gauthier got the Ducks on the board in the first minute of this contest. He took a pass from Jeffrey Viel at the Seattle blue line, skated around defenseman Vince Dunn and scored from the bottom of the right circle.

The Ducks went shorthanded went Alex Killorn was called for hooking with just under six minutes to go in the first period. Ryan Poehling was able to score shorthanded to give Anaheim a 2-0 lead. Ian Moore got the puck out of the Anaheim zone and Poehling got sprung on a breakaway beating over his right side.

The Kraken got on the board in the second period with a goal by Jared McCann. He scored on a 3-on-2 rush beating Dostal over his shoulder.

The Ducks answered back with a goal by Chris Kreider on the power play. He got to a rebound next to the net and slammed it home. Anaheim led 3-1 after two periods.

Seattle pulled within one again in the opening minutes of the third period. Jaden Schwartz redirected a pass from Shane Wright past Dostal.

In the final minutes the Kraken pulled the goalie and Pavel Mintyukov scored into the empty net to make it a 4-2 final. Minty banked a clearing attempt off the boards and the puck redirected into the open net.

Analysis:

The Ducks jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period. The Kraken got on the board in the second period, but the Ducks responded with another goal. Anaheim still had two goal advantage to start the third. Seattle scored in the third to make it interesting, but Anaheim got an empty net goal to seal the deal.

Anaheim has now won six games in a row with a depleted lineup missing Leo Carlsson, Troy Terry, and recently Mason McTavish.

Different players have stepped up in the lineup to keep the winning streak going. Jansen Harkins has been playing a top six center role in McTavish’s absence the last two games.

Newcomer Viel came along four games ago and has provided a spark for the Ducks. He has a three game point streak with two goals and one assist. He also had a fight in his first game with Anaheim.

Ryan Poehling scored in this contest and has been quietly effective in his bottom six role for Anaheim. He has 17 total points (4 G + 13 A) in 44 games for Anaheim this season. He has been averaging just under 14 minutes of playing time each game.

And Dostal continues to be in the zone. He stopped 20 of 22 shots by Seattle. He has won his last five starts.

As a team the Ducks really dominated in the first period. At even strength they put up 33 shot attempts to just 11 for the Kraken. Anaheim had an insane CF% of 75% and FF% of 79.31% at even strength in the first 20 minutes. Overall, the Ducks had 82 shot attempts at even strength to 50 for the Kraken in this contest. The Ducks did appear to run out of some steam in the third period, but the great start helped them get a big enough lead to earn the win.

The Ducks won the special teams battle. They scored once on the power play in two attempts. The Kraken didn’t score on their two power plays and the Ducks scored shorthanded.

Team Notes/Stats:

The Ducks are currently on a six game winning streak, which is the longest active streak in the league today. This is the second time this season Anaheim has won six games in a row.

Dostal has won five starts in a row twice this season. The only other goalie in team history with multiple five-game winning streaks in a single campaign over the past 10 years is Frederik Andersen (seven games and five games in 2015-16).

Beckett Sennecke only took three shifts in the third period. He took an awkward fall in the second period, but Head Coach Joel Quenneville told the media after the game he should be fine.

What’s Next?

The Ducks travel to Calgary to play the Flames Sunday at 5 PM.

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January 24th, 2026