Ducks Lose Wild Game Against The Sabres

The Anaheim Ducks continued their homestand against the Buffalo Sabres. Ville Husso was in net against Colten Ellis.

Recap

The Sabres were called for two quick penalties in the early moments of this contest. Mikael Granlund scored to make it a 1-0 lead. Jackson LaCombe passed the puck to Granlund and it deflected off his skate and behind Ellis. Cutter Gauthier then scored shortly after as he beat Ellis high from the right face-off circle.

Buffalo answered to pull within one. Tyson Kozak scored halfway thought the opening period.

Roger McQueen scored his first NHL goal to put the Ducks back up 3-1.

Buffalo responded with two goals to tie up the game 3-3 before the period ended. Noah Ostlund got the puck in front off a deflected shot and beat Husso to the near post. Tage Thompson then blew by the Ducks defense and beat Husso high to tie the game.

Thompson scored twice in the final moments of the second period to make it a 5-3 lead for Buffalo. He first scored off a face-off shooting the puck off the post past Husso. He then scored getting behind the Anaheim defense and then beating Husso with a backhand. Buffalo led 5-3 after two periods.

The Sabres scored twice early in the third period to make it a 7-3 advantage. Jack Quinn scored on the power play and Zach Benson scored about title over four minutes later.

Gauthier scored his second of the game less than a minute later on the power play. He beat Ellis with a one-timer from the top of the right face-off circle.

Tristan Luneau scored with just over a minute left to make it a 7-5 contest. Judd Caulfield found him in front of the net for the score.

Beckett Sennecke scored with about 30 seconds left to pull Anaheim within one. He got to a rebound at the side of the net and put it home before Ellis could recover.

The Ducks scored three times, but still fell short 7-6.

Analysis:

This was an extremely wild game from start to finish. The Ducks jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead less than three minutes into this one. The Sabres got on the board shortly afterword, but the Ducks responded as well. It looked like the Ducks might blow the Sabres out, but then they scored twice to tie things up.

Things settled down in the middle frame for most of the period until the final two minutes. Thompson scored twice to complete the hat trick and give Buffalo a 5-3 lead after two periods. They extended that to 7-3 early in the third and it looked they would be the ones who would get a blownout win. Instead the Ducks fought back scoring three times, but they run out of time and couldn’t get the tying goal.

This was an entertaining game from start to finish, especially if you like offense. Defensively this was a terrible game. For the Ducks they couldn’t find a way to stop Thomspon who had a natural hat trick. Anaheim is still having issues clearing out players in front of their own net. For Buffalo their special teams continue to be an issue. They gave up three power play goals to Anaheim in four attempts. Sabres were able to pull away because of their even strength goals.

The Ducks are having trouble carrying the puck through the neutral zone. They are also not very effective in getting the puck out of their zone.

McQueen scored his first NHL goal and had a much better game. He was benched for most of the game after the first period against Vancouver.

Overall outside of Carlsson’s and Sennecke’s offense play, there isn’t much going right for Anaheim. The Ducks didn’t have a morning skate before this contest, which was unusual. Maybe they should be practicing more instead. A lot has got to change with this team or it’s going to be a long season.

Team Notes/Stats:

The Ducks scored two power play goals in less than three minutes to start the game. That’s a team record for the fastest two power play goals to start a contest.

Sennecke leads the team with 8 goals.

Carlsson has three straight multiple point games.

The Ducks gone 1-6-1 in their last 8 games. They are 1-4-1 at home this season.

What’s Next?

Ducks host the Senators Sunday at 5PM.

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October 30th, 2026