The Anaheim Ducks lost to the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night, by a final score of 4-2. Historically, the Honda Center was once a house of horrors for the Flames, especially during the Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry heyday. Flash forward to today though, and that run of dominance is now long gone; not only did the Ducks give the Flames their first win of the season, but the Ducks were outworked again by the same team that, in theory, is worse on paper. Here’s your Ducks and schmucks from the disappointing loss.

DuckRoger McQueen

After losing Ryan Poehling for the next 6-8 weeks, due to an injury sustained in their previous game against the Flames, the Ducks were forced to dip into their prospect pool for reinforcements. Enter McQueen and his much-anticipated debut in Anaheim.

Every journey begins with a single step. #FlyTogether pic.twitter.com/tidxdcewjA

— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) October 14, 2026

McQueen took Poehling’s place as the third line center, with A.J. Greer and Frank Vatrano as his wingers. In 11:26 of ice time, McQueen had a Corsi percentage of 50% at even strength and saw some limited time on the Anaheim powerplay, but he only registered 1 shot and had an expected goals percentage of 32.9 in all situations. McQueen was not afraid to get his nose dirty though, as he was in the middle of a scrum during the first period, looking for a Flames player to take a dumb penalty. Unfortunately, Greer was the one who took a penalty instead, trying to protect the young Duck.

SchmuckNo shots

The Ducks were outshot by the Flames, 36-25. While shots are not the ideal measurement for a team’s performance, the eye test matched up, as the Flames outworked the Ducks to get shots on Lukas Dostal. The Flames had 3 skaters with an expected goals percentage north of 78, in all situations. The closest Ducks skater was surprisingly, Vatrano, at 60.8. Not having Cutter Gauthier in the lineup definitely hurt, as not only is Gauthier a shot volume machine, but he is also a premier goal scoring threat that Flames did not have to account for. No offense to Sam Colangelo or Nikita Nesterenko or Greer, but they do have the same kind of offensive impact as Gauthier nor the injured Troy Terry. The lack of sheer offensive talent in the Ducks top six was noticeable and the Flames capitalized.

Duck(s)The big guns

Beckett Sennecke kept up his torrid scoring pace, by notching the first goal of the game for the Ducks. In the first period, while both teams were playing at four on four, Sennecke deftly stole the puck from Simon Nemec and rushed up ice on a breakaway.

🚨 Sennecke 🚨

The steal and score!!
We’re tied at one! #FlyTogether pic.twitter.com/Xj1lyTPaTi

— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) October 14, 2026

Sennecke had the most ice time of all Ducks forwards, with 22:52 and also had a Corsi percentage of 53.6.

Even though he might have been leading the team in points, Leo Carlsson had yet to score a goal, since game one against the Vegas Golden Knights. But in the first period against the Flames, Carlsson notched his second of the season, during a Ducks powerplay.

🚨 Leo 🚨

We take the lead on the power play! #FlyTogether pic.twitter.com/Ktvi7fmChv

— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) October 14, 2026

Carlsson finished the game with 22:18 of ice time, just a shade under Sennecke. And like Sennecke, Carlsson was the only other Ducks forward with a positive goals above expected.

SchmuckBad goal, at the wrong time

On the whole, Dostal had a good performance against the Flames, as he finished with the game with a .914 save percentage and 0.64 goals saved above expected. But with the game tied and almost four minutes to go left in regulation, Dostal gave up the game winning goal, on a shot that he would definitely want back.

Hit ’em with the pump fake 👀 pic.twitter.com/E84589L2AD

— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) October 14, 2026

Not saying one or two bad goals, is a pattern, but after his down year last season and the Ducks on the cusp of squeezing out at least a point in a subpar performance against the Flames, Dostal cannot let shots like that beat him.

What’s next?

The Ducks will host the Boston Bruins, who currently lead the Atlantic Division, on Friday night. In back-to-back games, the Flames gave the Ducks all they could handle, so confidence in facing off against the Bruins is wanning. The lack of a scoring punch is also concerning. Nikita Klepov has been maddeningly kept off the roster, minus his one game cameo, but something has to change, as the Ducks have become a one line team early in the season. Let’s see what kind of creation spills out of the Quenneville blender on Friday.

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