Ducks Down Canucks 5-3

Photo: The Canadian Press

By Michael Walters

The Anaheim Ducks started their road trip out in Vancouver against the Canucks. Lukas Dostal was in net against Kevin Lankinen. Radko Gudas returned after serving his five game suspension.

The Canucks struck first on the power play in the opening minutes of this contest. Jake DeBrusk got the puck in front of the net and sweep the puck just inside the far post for the score. Vancouver had a 1-0 after the first period.

The Ducks scored twice in the early stages of the second period to take a 2-1 lead. Alex Killorn got in behind the defense and scored on a backhand shot beating Lankinen over the shoulder.

A few minutes later Mikael Granlund scored on a unique play. Leo Carlsson took a shot which was blocked by Lankinen and flew high up in the air over him heading toward the net. Granlund skated behind Lankinen and deflected the puck out of midair into the net.

The Canucks answered on the power play to tie the game up at two. Brock Boeser scored in close from the left circle. The teams were all tied at two after two periods.

The Ducks went ahead 3-2 when Granlund scored his second of the game on the power play in the opening minute of the third period. He took a shot from the right face-off circle which was blocked, but he got to his own rebound and beat Lankinen glove side for the goal. The Ducks had been on a 5-on-3 power play and end up scoring after the first penalty expired.

Drew O’Connor scored about a minute later to tie the game up at three. He converted on a rebound from the right hash mark.

Mason McTavish then responded to put Anaheim ahead 4-3 about three minutes later. He launched a rocket of a shot off a drop pass by Laniknen.

The Canucks pulled their goalie in the final minutes and Troy Terry scored in the empty net giving the Ducks a 5-3 win.

Analysis:

The Ducks, yes you guessed it, gave up the first goal again and then came back to win. It seems to be a regular script lately with this team. They battled back in the second period to take a 2-1 lead briefly and then had a 3-2 lead in third before eventually winning 5-3. The Canucks did fight back to tie up the game at 2-2 and 3-3, but wouldn’t score after that.

John Carlson had his best game as a Ducks registering three assists. He assisted on Anaheim first three goals of this contest.

Granlund was all over the ice in this one scoring twice. He logged over 18 minutes of ice time and had three shots on net. He easily could have had a hat trick.

McTavish finally got the monkey off his back scoring his first goal in 14 games. He has picked up his game after being a healthy scratch for two consecutive games.

Overall, the Ducks out shot the Canucks 34 to 30. Vancouver won the special teams play with two goals in three power plays to one for Anaheim in three attempts. But the Ducks were the better team on the score board during even strength play out scoring the Canucks three to one. The teams did both post a 50% CF% and FF% at even strength and 5-on-5 play, which rarely happens.

Team Notes/Stats:

The Ducks reached 40 wins for the first time since the 2107-18 season.

Anaheim has scored 240 goals this season, which is the most since the 2013-14 season.

What’s Next?

The Ducks travel to Calgary to play the Flames Thursday at 6 PM.

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March 25th, 2026