After turning their offense loose to win for the first time this season, the Anaheim Ducks will face the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday in their home opener.
Not only did the Ducks rally from a two-goal deficit in the third period for a 7-6 overtime victory against the San Jose Sharks on Saturday, they now face the Penguins, who were crushed 6-1 at home by the New York Rangers this past weekend.
Chris Kreider and Cutter Gauthier each scored two goals for Anaheim, while Leo Carlsson registered a goal and added two assists. Carlsson’s goal gave the Ducks the victory 46 seconds into overtime after Kreider tied it with 51 seconds remaining in regulation time.
“That’s more than a wow,” said new Ducks head coach Joel Quenneville, who registered his first win with the club. “You don’t expect to come back like that.
“I thought we played well the whole game. Fought back from a two-goal lead earlier in the game when we thought we were playing pretty well. Stayed with it until the end of the game and got a reward.”
The victory came after Alex Killorn was moved to the Anaheim top line alongside Carlsson and Kreider, then scored his first of the season.
While the offense showed its capabilities under Quenneville, the defense has now allowed nine goals in two games. Veteran goaltender Petr Mrazek made 17 saves in his first game for Anaheim.
The Ducks, who last had a winning season in 2017-18, now head home where they were 21-18-2 last season. It was the second-best home record among Western Conference teams that did not make the playoffs in 2024-25.
The Penguins started the season 2-0-0, including a season-opening 3-0 victory over the Rangers, before they were thumped by New York in their own building in a game where they were outshot 30-19.
Ben Kindel scored a second-period goal, to tie the score 1-1 but it was all Rangers from there. It was Kindel’s first career goal in his third game after he was the No. 11 overall selection in the most recent NHL Draft.
“It was definitely nice to get the first one, get it out of the way,” the 18-year-old Kindel said.
Pittsburgh’s Arturs Silovs gave up the six Rangers goals while making 24 saves. The Penguins saw the Rangers go 2-for-4 on the power play after they did not allow a goal over five power plays in the first two games.
The Penguins’ defeat came against former head coach Mike Sullivan, who now holds the same post with the Rangers.
While current Penguins head coach Dan Muse refuses to make much of the defeat, Tuesday’s game against the Ducks could paint a clearer early-season picture.
“We’re in Game 3,” Muse said. “This will be something, early this season, especially. But going through the year, we’re going to constantly look to improve all areas of our game. I don’t think this is anything to be panicking on.”
The Penguins lead the all-time series 27-17-2, with Pittsburgh going 6-2-0 against Anaheim over the last four seasons. The teams meet again in Pittsburgh on Dec. 9.
–Field Level Media
