The Anaheim Ducks have started their 2025-26 campaign with a 2-2-0 record, with some encouraging and discouraging trends emerging to start their season, in which the stated goal is to make the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Ducks’ most recent game ended in a 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes, a perennial cup contender, well-oiled machine, and perhaps the early favorite to represent the Eastern Conference in June.
Quack of Dawn: Ducks Morning Report – 10/18/25
Takeaways from the Ducks 4-1 Loss to the Hurricanes
After a final faceoff in the Canes’ zone and when the buzzer signified the end of the second period of that game, tempers flared between centermen Mason McTavish and Logan Stankoven, igniting a skirmish between all five skaters on the ice. Canes’ goaltender Frederik Andersen involved himself, so Ducks’ netminder Lukas Dostal took the long skate to meet him.
“We had some momentum going there at the end of that period,” Joel Quenneville said after Thursday’s loss. “(We had a couple of breaks, a couple of great opportunities. The guys were sticking together there. A little bit of hockey there.”
No gloves hit the ice, but plenty of grappling gave life to the building and had many fans and media around the league commenting on the kerfuffle. Taking a step back and rewatching, one can’t help but notice the personnel on the ice for the Ducks during the altercation: Mason McTavish, Cutter Gauthier, Beckett Sennecke, Leo Carlsson, Jackson LaCombe, and Lukas Dostal. Nearly the entire young core of the Anaheim Ducks franchise was involved to some degree, mixing it up or defending themselves and teammates.
“It’s great, I mean, especially early in the season,” Mason McTavish said. “It shows the guys are super glued together here. We got a great group, everybody loves each other, which is awesome. I’m very grateful. We have an awesome locker room here. It’s something we can build on.”
While some may scoff at the most talented players on a roster engaging in post-whistle/buzzer altercations, and it may not be everyone’s cup of tea, if the past 20 years of NHL playoff hockey have taught anything, it’s that those instances are common occurrences. The ability and willingness to engage in them is almost a prerequisite if a team has designs on lifting the Stanley Cup when it’s all said and done.
“I think we got a really, really tough team,” McTavish added after practice on Saturday. “WE got some big bodies on our team, and we’re not afraid to get in the mix. It’s just part of the game, and I don’t think anybody in here shies away from it, so it’s good to see.”
The Florida Panthers have reached the Stanley Cup Final in three straight seasons, winning the last two. They have become the poster team for post-whistle altercations and getting under opponent’s skin. Radko Gudas was part of the first of the finalist teams before signing with the Anaheim Ducks the summer prior to the Panthers winning their first cup.
“I think it’s great,” Radko Gudas said. “I think everybody’s invested, everybody’s pulling the same rope, and that’s what you want. Young guys leading the charge, I think, is the best thing you can have in a team. You want the young guys to be better, and you see them driving those plays, and you want them to get their nose dirty and go in the dirty areas.
“It’s fun to have throughout the whole lineup, having guys invested in the one big goal. We’re trying to get better, and seeing those guys doing these things that’s not particularly in their job description, it’s fun to see them mixing it up and wanting to do it for themselves and for the team.”
As stated above, the Ducks have their eyes set on ending their rebuild and making the playoffs this season. They’ve loaded up the current roster and pipeline with one of the most talented collections of players. However, when the playoffs arrive, every team is loaded with firepower, the ice shrinks, and emotions run high. The Ducks’ young core’s willingness to engage on Thursday night could certainly be seen as an encouraging sign for when the games mean the most, and those instances are anything but rare.
Whether observing close or from afar, it’s clear that Ducks’ general manager Pat Verbeek had the Florida Panthers in mind when molding his club in Anaheim and is borrowing some pages from Bill Zito’s playbook. Skill, speed, and hockey IQ are all requirements, but physical willingness and tenacity are right up there as well.
“I think we’re a little younger than we were in Florida, but we also think we’re a lot more skilled, a lot faster, so those are things that we need to work in our advantage or make them our biggest advantage and slowly learn the other things that we’re going to need in the playoffs,” Gudas continued. “So there’s a lot of similarities in these two organizations. It’s a good start to have, for sure.”
The Ducks will hope to build on those playoff habits as they head on the road for an early-season five-game road trip, starting on Sunday afternoon, when they’ll take on a Chicago Blackhawks team that has been at a similar stage in their rebuild process.
Encouraging and Concerning Trends Have Emerged Through Anaheim Ducks First Three Games of 2025-26
