Game Notes: Ducks Prevail in a Wild Affair in San Jose
Here are my notes from a crazy, 7-6 overtime win by the Ducks in San Jose.
Leo Carlsson, a star in the making
Carlsson finished the night with 3 points, including an assist on the game tying goal, and the overtime game winning goal, but it’s how he did it that’s noteworthy.
On the game tying goal, Carlsson made a clever pass to enter the zone, where he faked to his left, getting the forechecker to commit, before slipping the puck back underneath a stick against the grain to free up the zone entry. He then drove hard to the net, whacking at a rebound which Chris Kreider put away.
On the game winning goal, Carlsson snuffed out a Macklin Celebrini deke attempt in the Ducks zone, calmly shutting down the Sharks star before taking the puck back down the ice and sniping it home for the win. Special stuff all around from the second overall pick in 2023.
Beckett Sennecke
Sennecke followed up scoring in his first NHL game by…scoring in his second NHL game. He is making close friends with the boxscore already.
However, it’s the details in Sennecke’s game that once again stood out. He’s showing some jam and snarl in his game, showing a willingness to drive to the net while creating space for himself. Let’s just say he wasn’t shy in throwing a few cross checks to free himself up.
Olen Zellweger
Zellweger looks like he might be primed for a breakout season. He made plays all over the ice both against Seattle and San Jose.
He seems even more confident now in rushing the puck up ice to try and create an offensive opportunity, but there’s an added physicality to his game that is making him effective at shutting down rushes and retrieving pucks deep in his own zone. He looks like the Ducks’ second best defenseman right now.
Pavel Mintyukov
Mintyukov played the fewest minutes of any defenseman against San Jose, only playing 11:49.
The third year man is very much a third pairing defenseman right now. He’s not getting special teams action, and the top two pairings are getting the lion’s share of the work at five on five.
The usage isn’t necessarily a coincidence. His puck retrievals are shaky, as he seems unsure when going back for the puck, sometimes initiating contact, and at other times getting easily shoved off the puck. The in-zone defending isn’t much better either.
There’s still plenty of runway for Mintyukov to develop, but the early returns haven’t been inspiring.
The Kid Line
The “Kid Line” of Gauthier-McTavish-Sennecke lit up the scoresheet against San Jose. They seem to have already formed a chemistry.
The skill sets are very complementary. Gauthier; the speedy wing. McTavish; the methodical, playmaking center, and Sennecke the crafty winger. It’s just two games against weaker teams, but these three already seem to be gelling, which could bode very well for the Ducks moving forward.
Petr Mrazek
Mrazek allowed 6 goals on 23 shots. Not much more needs to be said there. He needs to better.
Chasing Chemistry
Joel Quenneville split up Carlsson and Troy Terry for the second game in a row. The two skilled forwards haven’t seemed to click through training camp and now two regular season games.
There may be something to this. Leo Carlsson is a unique player. First off, he’s a giant player who can skate like the wind and stop on a dime. Those guys tend to be rare, and when they pop up, they get drafted high. But he also has hands, a shot, and playmaking, Again, these guys tend to be drafted high, and be very good.
But there’s a catch. Carlsson doesn’t necessarily gel with other guys who love to carry the puck. We saw this a bit with Trevor Zegras last year. Although a center, Carlsson doesn’t necessarily look for his wingers. Instead, it’s a lot of give and go’s, or attack space and pop the puck out.
If anything, Carlsson needs wingers who can feed him the puck, finding him as he flies up the ice. Enter Alex Killorn. The veteran was back on Carlsson’s line after the switch, and it did seem like that unlocked Carlsson a bit, as he was no longer having to share the puck with Terry.
This isn’t necessarily new, as this trend started to crop up a bit last year. We’ll see how Quenneville responds moving forward, but it might be time to let Carlsson and Terry each have their own line to drive.