Lukas Dostal made 33 saves in his NHL debut and Rickard Rakell buried the shootout clincher, leading the Ducks to a 4-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings tonight at Honda Center. The win improves Anaheim to 19-12-7 (45 points), second place in the Pacific Division.
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Recap: Dostal Backstops Ducks to Victory in NHL Debut
Dostal stopped 33-of-36 shots and both Detroit shootout attempts in his first career start. The 21-year-old became the first Ducks goaltender to win his NHL debut since Kevin Boyle in 2019 and his 33 saves are the most by a Duck in an NHL debut.
Rookie forward Brayden Tracey also made his first career NHL appearance for Anaheim, registering one shot on goal in 9:21 of ice-time, playing mostly on a line with Ryan Getzlaf and Troy Terry. Tracey, a 2019 first-round pick, and Dostal are the fifth and sixth Ducks to debut this season, all of which were drafted by Anaheim.
Trevor Zegras, Troy Terry and Max Comtois scored for the Ducks, who now have points in 12 of their last 16 games (8-4-4).
The night also included one of the most unique puck drops in NHL history, courtesy of the iconic Rally Monkey, on Angels Night at Honda Center.
In a meeting of four of the NHL's most highly touted rookies, Zegras delivered the first blow, opening the scoring on a power-play goal. Zegras played catch with Cam Fowler at the point, with the defenseman eventually setting him up for a one-timer that he fired by goaltender Thomas Greiss for his third power-play tally of the season.
Zegras is second among NHL rookies in scoring (9-17=26), third in assists and tied for third in goals. He has 7-14=21 points in his last 19 games.
The Red Wings responded with a power-play goal of their own in the opening seconds of the middle frame as Filip Hronek stepped in front of the blue line and hammered a slap shot over Dostal's glove.
The visitors then went ahead late in the period when Tyler Bertuzzi converted an errant wraparound attempt by Marc Staal for his 16th goal of the season, tying Dylan Larkin for the team lead.
Detroit's advantage lasted just three minutes though, with Anaheim evening the score on an odd occurrence now commonplace to Ducks fans. Terry collected a pass from Sonny Milano in the slot, delaying a moment before wiring a wrist shot off the inside of the post and then the camera inside the goal before bouncing out and away from the net. Play continued briefly until the horn sounded in the arena, signaling the Ducks had been awarded a goal after the fact for the third time this season.
Anaheim went back ahead momentarily in the third on Comtois' first goal of the season. After the Ducks corralled a faceoff in their own zone, Zegras sprinted ahead with the puck, leaving a pass for Rakell on right wing, who pulled the puck between his feet and directed it across the net to Comtois for the tap-in goal.
Rakell has assists in two of his last three games (0-2=2).
Detroit leveled the score again on a fluttering shot that hit a couple of bodies on its way to the net, deflecting in on off Vladislav Namestnikov.
The teams traded shots at the game's deciding goal before the end of regulation. Detroit's best look came on another bid in tight for Namestnikov, but Dostal robbed the Red Wings forward with a save at the top of his crease. Terry nearly won it for Anaheim a minute later, dancing around the edge of the zone before cutting to the slot and firing a shot into Greiss.
Detroit dominated most of overtime, hemming the Ducks in their own zone for over three minutes, but Dostal stood tall with help from a couple of posts to keep Anaheim alive.
Zegras and Rakell scored in the shootout, with Rakell outwaiting Greiss until the last possible moment before lifting the game-winning goal over the goaltender's outstretched glove.
Anaheim concludes its four-game homestand Tuesday against Pittsburgh.
