ANAHEIM — It was a new season for the Ducks and that brought the rarest of novelties to Honda Center on Tuesday night: a game that was won by the power play.
The Ducks bested the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-3, scoring their first goal and their final one with the extra man to win their first home game of the campaign – their 10th consecutive win in a home opener.
Trade acquisition Chris Kreider bookended the scoring with a pair of man-advantage markers and also had the lone assist on Drew Helleson’s goal. Cutter Gauthier added a goal and Leo Carlsson chipped in two assists. Lukáš Dostál earned his first victory of 2025-26, making 25 saves.
Justin Brazeau, former Duck Rickard Rakell and Anthony Mantha scored for Pittsburgh. Sidney Crosby and Ryan Shea each contributed two assists. Tristan Jarry stopped 17 shots.
Some 18:26 of scoreless hockey in the third period appeared to have the game destined for overtime, but Parker Wotherspoon shot the puck over the glass to give the Ducks their fifth power play of the evening.
Just six seconds into the power play, the Ducks cashed in on Kreider’s redirection from the slot off a smooth setup from Troy Terry. The Penguins drew no nearer and had to take a penalty to prevent an empty-netter.
Through 40 minutes the teams were tied at 3-all after swapping goals in the middle frame.
Pittsburgh knotted the score after Jacob Trouba scrambled back into the defensive zone to get a stick on Mantha’s shot, only to see the twig break, sending the puck fluttering past Dostál with 2:59 left in the period.
After pinging the post on one trip into the zone, the Ducks took their first lead of the night on the next, 12 seconds before the halfway mark of the game. Kreider recovered the puck low in the Pittsburgh zone, sweeping it high for Helleson for a long shot that beat Jarry.
By the first intermission, the Ducks deadlocked the score, 2-2, after falling behind by a pair of goals in the first 7:01 of the contest and despite being out-shot 15-7.
With 34.7 seconds showing on the clock, they drew even. Rookie Beckett Sennecke kept possession alive for Pavel Mintyukov, whose seam pass from the left point to the right dot set up Gauthier’s snipe. Sennecke has started his NHL career with a three-game point streak.
They’d gotten on the board when Carlsson loomed at the bottom of the right circle and slid a pass across the crease for Kreider, who buried the layup for his third goal in three games as a Duck. Newcomer Mikael Granlund had the secondary assist, at the 9:42 mark.
The Ducks had ceded a goal 63 seconds into the game and again at 7:01, when Rakell’s fly-by redirection of Shea’s shot beat Dostál following a won faceoff by Crosby.
On Pittsburgh’s first goal, they also got a free pass to the net front, which Brazeau took advantage of to tip Shea’s wrister after he received the puck from Evgeni Malkin.
More to come on this story.
Related Articles
Ducks look to tighten defense in home opener against Penguins Ducks rally in OT to stun Sharks Beckett Sennecke scores, but Ducks fall to Kraken in season opener Top questions facing the Ducks ahead of Thursday’s season opener in Seattle Under Quenneville, Ducks are eager to end playoff droughtHence then, the article about ducks rally beat penguins on late goal in home opener was published today ( ) and is available on Los Angeles Daily News ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Ducks rally, beat Penguins on late goal in home opener )
Also on site :