{"id":297131,"date":"2026-05-02T22:52:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T22:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/297131\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T22:52:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T22:52:11","slug":"jackson-lacombe-leads-anaheim-ducks-into-second-round-with-phenomenal-playoff-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/297131\/","title":{"rendered":"Jackson LaCombe leads Anaheim Ducks into second round with phenomenal playoff debut"},"content":{"rendered":"

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) \u2014 When Jackson LaCombe<\/a> signed a $72 million contract extension with the Anaheim Ducks<\/a> last September, casual hockey fans around North America responded to the news online with countless variations of the same clueless refrain: \u201cWho\u2019s that?\u201d<\/p>\n

Seven months later, anyone who still doesn\u2019t know about the Ducks\u2019 top defenseman clearly isn\u2019t paying attention to this sport.<\/p>\n

LaCombe just finished dominating his first Stanley Cup playoff series, scoring nine points \u2014 second-most in the entire NHL \u2014 and tirelessly spearheading the Ducks\u2019 defensive efforts against Connor McDavid<\/a> and Leon Draisaitl<\/a> while upstart Anaheim eliminated the two-time conference champion Edmonton Oilers<\/a> in six games.<\/p>\n

After agreeing to the richest contract ever handed out in Anaheim, LaCombe scored 58 points in a breakout regular season while making the U.S. Olympic team\u2019s roster and leading the Ducks to their first playoff berth since 2018.<\/p>\n

His performance under the postseason spotlight has cemented everything Ducks fans already knew about him \u2014 and his Anaheim teammates think it\u2019s long past time for LaCombe to be known beyond the West Coast.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s crazy to me that people are just now figuring it out about him sometimes,\u201d Ducks forward Troy Terry<\/a> said. \u201cAnd I realize that we haven\u2019t been on this stage, and that\u2019s when guys get seen. But it\u2019s been almost wild to me that people haven\u2019t realized how good this kid is. Every night we play, he controls the game with his legs. He plays both ends. He\u2019s the first guy on the attack for us. He\u2019s playing McDavid. He literally doesn\u2019t have a weakness in his game, and he\u2019s so calm.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been our leader out there, honestly. He\u2019s been carrying the play on both ends, and we\u2019re lucky to have him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Only Draisaitl scored more points in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs than LaCombe, whose puck-moving acumen was a key to Anaheim\u2019s 26-goal barrage. LaCombe logged 27 minutes per game, matching up with McDavid and\/or Draisaitl alongside partner Jacob Trouba<\/a> whenever possible to slow the Oilers\u2019 two superstars.<\/p>\n

LaCombe naturally wasn\u2019t checking the playoff points leaderboard during the series, but he still learned he was on top for much of that time.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople kept saying stuff to me, so I did figure it out, but it is what it is,\u201d LaCombe said with a grin.<\/p>\n

He said the newfound attention is \u201cpart of the job, I guess, and part of playing. But I\u2019m just excited we\u2019re winning hockey games.\u201d<\/p>\n

LaCombe\u2019s teammates know he was a major reason why the Ducks earned a trip to the second round to face the Vegas Golden Knights<\/a>, who sneaked past slumping Anaheim to win the Pacific Division title last month.<\/p>\n

Terry and Leo Carlsson<\/a> scored eight points apiece against the Oilers, but both forwards feel it wouldn\u2019t have been possible without LaCombe leading the Ducks\u2019 back-end play.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s one of the best players in the playoffs, and one of the best players in the league, too,\u201d said the 21-year-old Carlsson, who broke into the NHL alongside LaCombe two seasons ago. \u201cSuper-fun to watch him. Super-fun to be rookies together, and then we\u2019re here. … He\u2019s just great. To shut down the best player in the world like that is pretty awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anaheim coach Joel Quenneville spent 11 seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks<\/a> coaching a roster anchored by Duncan Keith, the Hockey Hall of Famer to whom LaCombe is frequently compared. Both defensemen were second-round draft picks who grew into stardom by thriving at both ends of the ice with strong skating, hockey smarts and aggressive play on the puck.<\/p>\n

Quenneville doesn\u2019t downplay the comparison at all, instead noting their many similarities \u2014 right down to the No. 2 on their backs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re both comparable exactly where they were in their games at almost the same time,\u201d Quenneville said.<\/p>\n

LaCombe played four years at the University of Minnesota before jumping straight to the NHL in 2023. He locked down a roster spot in training camp that fall, and he led the Ducks in ice time last season while scoring 14 goals \u2014 the most by an Anaheim blueliner since 2011.<\/p>\n

But he hadn\u2019t experienced NHL team success until this season, when the Ducks opened up their style of play and surged into the top half of the conference in Quenneville\u2019s first season.<\/p>\n

LaCombe knows the Ducks have already gone farther than many expected this spring with a team just exiting a long rebuild, but he doesn\u2019t want this ride to end.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always knew we were a good team,\u201d LaCombe said. \u201cWe had confidence in each other and trust in each other, and if people see us in a good way or a bad way, it doesn\u2019t really matter to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

NOTES: Quenneville said captain Radko Gudas<\/a> should be ready to return from his lower-body injury at some point during the second-round series. The defenseman was injured in Game 1 at Edmonton.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP NHL: https:\/\/apnews.com\/nhl<\/p>\n

Greg Beacham, The Associated Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) \u2014 When Jackson LaCombe signed a $72 million contract extension with the Anaheim Ducks last…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":297132,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,127],"class_list":["post-297131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297131","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=297131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297131\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}