ANAHEIM, Calif. – Whatever abyss the Anaheim Ducks were falling in to open the month, they have scratched and clawed their way out of it, and the Ducks are, once again, streaking.
The Ducks continued to hone the hard-working details of their game to grind down the Los Angeles Kings, and in overtime, Beckett Sennecke’s defensive hustle sprung Mikael Granlund for the game-winner, 2-1, at Honda Center on Saturday.
Anaheim swept the home-and-home back-to-backs with a shootout win in Los Angeles on Friday, and with Saturday’s overtime victory, the Ducks took the season series over the Kings for the first time since 2017-18.
Following a nine-game winless streak, the Ducks have won three straight for the first time since Dec. 9.
“We knew it was gonna be a big week for us, big weekend for us, and we came through,” Granlund said. “We’re playing the right way right now, so that gives us a chance to win these games. We did that again tonight, and it was a really tight game.”
Mason McTavish put the Ducks ahead in the first period on a well-executed, multi-level transition play, but Adrian Kempe leveled the game for the Kings on a five-on-three in the second period–one of five Los Angeles power plays in the period.
Ville Husso made 17 saves in the win, and Anton Forsberg made 31 saves in the Kings’ league-leading 13th overtime/shootout loss.
“I think we played the right way. Stayed on top of them a lot,” McTavish said. “Penalty kill was unreal today. Definitely a good stepping stone.”
With the two points to Anaheim (24-21-3, 51 points) and another consolation point to Los Angeles (19-16-13, 51 points), the Ducks and Kings pulled into a four-way tie with San Jose (24-20-3, 51 points) and Seattle (21-17-9, 51 points) for both final Pacific Division playoff spot and the second wild card position.
The Sharks and Kraken each have a game in hand on the Ducks and Kings.
Anaheim hosts the New York Rangers on Monday before heading out to a five-game northwestern road trip with league-leading Colorado on Wednesday and Seattle on Friday.
The name of the game for the Ducks in flipping their fortunes, especially with leading scorer Leo Carlsson sidelined for three-to-five weeks and second leading scorer Troy Terry shelved on the injured reserve, has been simplifying their game.
That can be a buzzword phrase for any hockey team going through a rough patch, but the Ducks have taken it to heart. Defensively, they have committed to getting back in coverage, and offensively, they’re getting pucks in deep and forechecking.
“We’re not giving anything easy,” Granlund said. “Nothing self-inflicted. Earlier, we were giving up a lot of odd-man rushes. After first period, we were down by a couple goals, and we’re chasing the game. We’re not doing that right now. We’re just playing the right way, being on the right side of the puck, making good decisions, and I think that’s what you need to do in this league if you want to win. And now we’re giving us a chance to win.”
Evidence of that attention to detail was on Granlund’s game-winning goal.
It wasn’t some dynamic move or bold decision that struck lightning. It was a hard-charging backcheck by the Ducks’ 19-year-old phenom Beckett Sennecke.
Kings forward Kevin Fiala looked clear for a possible game-winning breakaway, but Sennecke snuck up from behind to lift his stick and flick the puck backwards out of the zone where it found Granlund.
Sennecke then raced back the other way to be a one-timer option, which split the Kings’ defensive focus and gave Granlund the space to rip the winning shot.
“That was great play by Becks. That’s the effort we need,” Granlund said. “At the same time, we weren’t even close to getting to the overtime in the last few weeks. So that’s what I mean. We’re giving us a chance to win these games and getting those persistent to be able to win these games, and that’s what I mean by playing right. We’re playing right way right now, and we need to keep doing that.”
Granlund made a salient note there. While Sennecke’s play in a highlight example, the Ducks have battle through this win streak by resetting the foundation.
“I think just habits, just doing the right things over and over again, doesn’t just happen overnight,” McTavish said, “and we’ve really put an emphasis on staying on top of guys, and I think our goalie’s has been unreal, too. But I think the biggest thing is to stand on top of your check and closing quick in the D zone and give them less time.”
Part of that attention to detail has played out on the special teams, where the penalty kill had been a bellwether that things were going to turn around soon.
While the Kings scored on the five-on-three opportunity in the second period, that was the Duck’s first power play goal allowed in five games. Anaheim was 10-for-10 in the previous four games and 19-for-20 in the previous six games.
Anaheim went five-for-six on the kill tonight, as the penalties stacked up in the second period.
“Our penalty killing got us through it,” Quenneville said. “That was a big test in that period and then they did a great job. We got through it. Hey, some nights, you’re not gonna like the way it goes, but I think that sticking with it and getting through it, and that we handle getting through the third period. Let’s (control) we can control and let’s just play.”
Anaheim is 21st in the league on the penalty kill with a 78.1% kill rate entering the game, but prior to January, Ducks were 28th at 75.8%.
Less than 24 hours from his arrival in Southern California after a trade from Boston on Friday, Jeffrey Viel made his debut for the Ducks on the third line. Viel made an immediate impression on his teammates with a fight in the first period.
“It was awesome. Great, great fight,” McTavish said. “He played hard. You know, he’s definitely not fun to play against. Forechecked really hard, lays the body, and plays a hard game, and he was awesome.”
Viel, who stands at 6-foot-1, 214 pounds, squared up with all 6-foot-6, 225 pounds of Sam Helenius and got his fare share of blows, despite the size disadvantage. Viel was more than ready to insert himself in the rivalry for his introduction to the club.
“I’m always down,” Viel said of throwing hands.
Viel was acquired for a 2026 fourth-round pick, which will be the better of either the fourth-round pick from Philadelphia in the Trevor Zegras trade or the one from Detroit in the John Gibson trade.
“I felt very welcome. Everyone welcomed me with open arms,” Viel said. “The last 24 hours were kind of crazy. Got the call around noon yesterday and flew out at five. It was a quick turnaround.”