{"id":130284,"date":"2026-01-12T14:57:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T14:57:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/130284\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T14:57:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T14:57:07","slug":"ducks-in-free-fall-as-losses-mount","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/130284\/","title":{"rendered":"Ducks in Free Fall as Losses Mount"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Anaheim Ducks<\/a> began the season as one of the darlings of the NHL. Led by a group of young guns and fresh faces, the Ducks were poised to rise and become the Pacific Division\u2019s<\/a> top dog.<\/p>\n

But now their wings have been clipped.<\/p>\n

Anaheim has lost nine games in a row and 11 of its last 12. Night in and night out, the losses seem to stack on top of one another. For three weeks, the Ducks have lived in misery, falling farther and farther down the standings. At one point this season, the team was in first place in the Pacific Division and in position to make the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in seven years. Now, at 21-21-3 (45 points), the Ducks are in sixth place in the division, three points behind the Los Angeles Kings and three points ahead of the Calgary Flames.<\/p>\n

How in the world did this collapse happen?<\/p>\n

Nine in a Row\"Anaheim<\/p>\n

Jan 10, 2026; Buffalo, New York, USA; Anaheim Ducks defenseman Olen Zellweger (51) gets a penalty for tripping Buffalo Sabres center Tage Thompson (72) during the second period at KeyBank Center. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images | Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

To say the Ducks\u2019 last nine games have been brutal would be an understatement. Anaheim has been outscored 45-22 over that stretch, which has resulted in the obvious: The Ducks haven\u2019t been able to pick up a win. What\u2019s even worse, at least vibe-wise, is that Anaheim has yet to claim a victory in 2026. One must venture back to Dec. 20, 2025, for the team\u2019s last win, a narrow 4-3 triumph over the Columbus Blue Jackets.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot of blame to go around for why this has occurred. For one, allowing an average of five goals a game is never a recipe for success, and the responsibility for that unfortunate statistic ultimately falls at the feet of the defensive effort and goalie Lukas Dostal. While the Team Czechia<\/a> netminder has flashed the brilliance Ducks fans have become accustomed to over the past several seasons, the results just haven\u2019t been there so far. Through 29 games, Dostal has posted a .887 save percentage and a 3.25 goals-against average \u2014 both marks significantly worse than he posted last season. That\u2019s just not going to cut it, especially if the Ducks wish to make the postseason.<\/p>\n

But the offense has also dried up. Leading scorer and burgeoning star Leo Carlsson has just one point over his last five games. Cutter Gauthier isn\u2019t much better \u2014 he has just two. The same can be said of Bennett Sennecke and Mikael Granlund, who each have three points apiece over the last five for Anaheim. Just like with Dostal, that\u2019s not enough.<\/p>\n

Can the Ducks Break the Playoff Drought?<\/p>\n

So, can Anaheim break through the fog and emerge as a playoff team when everything is said and done? The short answer is yes, but it\u2019s going to take a Herculean effort for the Ducks to climb out of the pit they\u2019ve dug themselves into. Should Dostal turn it around and the scorers actually score, Anaheim will be in good shape. In a Pacific Division that\u2019s tumultuous and lacks a clear leader, there\u2019s always room for somebody to rise up and surprise the world.<\/p>\n

The Ducks will attempt to break the skid Jan. 13 in a home matchup against the Dallas Stars, one of the Central Division\u2019s powerhouses. They will then play the rival Kings on Jan. 16 and 17 before hosting the New York Rangers on Jan. 19.<\/p>\n

Make sure you bookmark Breakaway On SI for the latest news, exclusive interviews, recruiting coverage, and more!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Anaheim Ducks began the season as one of the darlings of the NHL. Led by a group…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":130285,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164],"class_list":["post-130284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130284"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130284\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}