Takeaways from the Ducks 6-1 Win over the Sharks

In their penultimate home game of the 2025-26 season, the Anaheim Ducks hosted the San Jose Sharks in a crucial Pacific Division matchup on Thursday night at Honda Center. The Ducks, suddenly desperate, entered this game carrying a six-game winless streak and having seen their five-point lead in the Pacific completely evaporated. At puck drop, they were third in the Division, behind the Vegas Golden Knights by a point and ahead of the Los Angeles Kings by four points.

Ducks Goaltender Ville Husso Nominated for Masterton Trophy Takeaways from the Ducks 5-0 Loss to the Predators The Sharks were on their second game of a back-to-back, after having lost a critical game on Wednesday against the Edmonton Oilers. The Sharks were three points out of the second wild card spot with a game in hand. This was the biggest game of the season for both sides.

The Ducks remained without forward Cutter Gauthier (upper body) and defenseman Radko Gudas (lower body), each having been sidelined since their March 30 game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. After playing forward in Tuesday’s loss to the Nashville Predators, Olen Zellweger was scratched for this game. Here’s how the Ducks lined up: Kreider-Carlsson-Terry Killorn-Granlund-Sennecke Vatrano-McTavish-Viel Washe-Poehling-Moore LaCombe-Trouba Mintyukov-Carlson Hinds-Helleson Lukas Dostal got the start for the Ducks and saved 18 of 19 shots in this game.

For the Sharks, Yaroslav Askarov got the nod and stopped 24 of 30. Game Notes From an on-ice perspective, with the scoreboards removed, this game felt like a continuation of their game on Tuesday against Nashville. The Ducks were possessing the puck for extended periods of time, including not allowing a shot against for (roughly) the first 15 minutes of the hockey game, and utilizing crisp breakouts to counter and keep pucks out of their end.