Ducks Lose 5-2 To The Canes

Photo: AP

By Michael Walters

The Anaheim Ducks continued their road trip in Carolina against the Hurricanes. Ville Husso was in net against Frederik Andersen.

Ryan Poehling got the Ducks on the board first just over six minutes into the contest. Anaheim had a 3-on-1 rush. Poehling passed the puck to Jackson LaCombe in the slot and he passed it back to Poehling who scored at the near post. The Ducks led 1-0 after the first period.

Mark Jankowski scored to tie the game at about the nine minute mark in the second period. He crashed the net and was denied, but the puck hit Drew Helleson in the skate and deflected into the net.

Mikael Granlund scored to give the Ducks a 2-1 lead. Granlund missed the net sending a rebound wide, but Mason McTavish got to the puck and found Granlund at the left post for the score.

Logan Stankoven would score to tie the game up once again about two minutes later. The Ducks turned over the puck and Taylor Hall found Stankoven in front for the redirect.

Carolina then took a 3-2 with just under four minutes to go in the second period. Jalen Chatfield found Jordan Staal in the left circle and he one-timed a pass behind Husso. The Hurricanes led 3-2 after two periods.

Jackson Blake scored halfway through the third period to make it 4-2. Alexander Nikishin took a one-timer and the rebound came to Blake in the slot who scored with a blackhand shot.

The Ducks pulled Husso in the final minutes and Hall scored in the empty net. Carolina went on to win 5-2.

Analysis:

Head Coach Joel Quenneville changed up all the lines and put Husso in net to start his contest. It worked, but only for the first period. The Ducks built a 1-0 in the opening 20 minutes, but the Hurricanes scored three times to go up 3-2 after two periods. They made it a 4-2 game in the third and never looked back after that.

After the decent first period for Anaheim things then fell apart. The Canes out shot the Ducks 28 to 7 in the final 40 minutes. Defensive breakdowns and turnovers continue to be an issue for the Ducks. At this point it doesn’t really seem to matter who is in net for Anaheim. The Ducks can score goals, but they continue to give up too many chances defensively.

Anaheim posted a pathetic CF% of 29.35% and FF% of 30.88% at even strength. The Ducks had 27 shot attempts at even strength to 65 for the Canes. Carolina put 35 shots on goal total in this contest and Anaheim only had 13.

Special teams wasn’t a factor in this contest. The Ducks went 0-for-3 with the man advantage and the Canes went 0-for-2.

The early season mojo the Ducks had is completely gone. Coach Q completed changed the lineup from top to bottom and put Husso in net tonight, but the Ducks still lost. The holidays are over, but tt might take a Christmas miracle to get this team back to it’s winning ways again.

Team News/Stats:

The Ducks have now lost eight games(0-7-1) in a row.

Anaheim is now 12-5-0 when scoring first. The Ducks scored first in their last three games, but still lost each contest.

What’s Next?

The Ducks will travel to Buffalo and plays the Sabres Saturday at 4 PM.

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January 8th, 2026