Fallen from the playoff race but now impacting it from below, the Ducks will face the still-flickering Calgary Flames on Wednesday and then visit the Kings on Thursday for this season’s final Freeway Faceoff.
Calgary is the last team with a true shot at unseating Minnesota for the final Western wild-card berth, trailing the Wild by four points with a head-to-head match on deck Friday. They also have a game in hand on the Wild, thanks to a matchup with the Kings that was rescheduled for April 17 amid January’s harrowing fires.
The Ducks actually helped the rival Kings on Monday, when they beat the Oilers 3-1 to take the season series from Edmonton. That kept the Kings four points ahead of Edmonton for second place in the Pacific Division and home-ice advantage in an increasingly likely series between two sides that squared off in each of the past three postseasons.
Monday, the Ducks’ Lukáš Dostál stopped 45 of 47 shots, including 23 in the third period, to break a tie with Pittsburgh’s Alex Nedeljkovic for the most 40-save performances in the NHL in 2024-25.
“He’s been our best player all season long, day-in and day-out,” said Cutter Gauthier, who scored two goals Monday. “Unfortunately, with (John Gibson) and the injuries he’s facing, (Dostál) has had to step up and play a lot. Every single night he’s been in for us, he’s done one heck of a job.”
Even what will soon be the highest-paid goalie in league history, Igor Shesterkin, has just three 40-save performances this year for his Rangers. Dostál’s progress and ability to shoulder a starter’s workload have become evident, and at the right time, since he is in a contract year. He’s eligible to become an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent July 1.
Dostál and agent Michael Deutsch have had contact with the Ducks and general manager Pat Verbeek, but ultimately tabled negotiations for the offseason.
“We had some talks with Mike and Pat, but we all decided that we’re going to leave it for the summer,” Dostál said. “For me, personally, I really wanted to make sure that I’m here to help the boys, and in a good head space.
The Ducks will also have to look at a deal for a prominent non-arbitration-eligible RFA, Mason McTavish, whose 21st goal of the season was the game-winner Monday.
“He’s a potent forward. He has a great shot and he showed it again, he has a great one-timer, [too]” Dostál said. “We always have fun challenges in practice. He’s a great player. He’s the future of this organization, or part of the future.”
The Flames and Kings faced questions about their future, as Calgary went into a reboot rather than a full-on rebuild, and the Kings’ own fast-tracked ride hit a huge speed bump last season, only to see them rebound this year.
For the Flames, the impasse stemmed initially from the desire to be traded to a U.S. market from 2024 Stanley Cup champion Matthew Tkachuk and the late Johnny Gaudreau’s itch to be closer to his family on the East Coast. More departures followed, including Jacob Markstron, Elias Lindholm, Noah Hanifin and Andrei Kuzmenko.
Yet the Flames didn’t opt to just collect draft picks to implement some five-year plan to have a five-year plan. GM Craig Conroy added some futures but largely made hockey trades that kept them competitive.
The Kings kept trying to ascend, adding Phillip Danault in 2022, Kevin Fiala in 2023 and then Pierre-Luc Dubois last year. The massive investment of assets and dollars alike in Dubois threatened to torpedo their ship, decimating a once-robust stock of defensemen, neglecting a glaring need in goal and throwing away a critical season for mid-30s veterans Anže Kopitar and Drew Doughty.
Yet GM Rob Blake saw his breaks even out, with some of that good fortune being the residue of opportunity and design. Free-agent signing Warren Foegele has blossomed defensively and fit in brilliantly overall. At the March 7 trade deadline, Blake found what turned out to be a gold nugget sitting atop a scrap heap, acquiring the invigorating Kuzmenko, whom Calgary had traded to Philadelphia in January, from the Flyers for a third-round pick.
The most ornate feather in Blake’s headdress however, was the return for Dubois. While Dubois has enjoyed a career campaign in Washington, too, Kuemper, at age 34, is having the finest season of an NHL tenure that included a Stanley Cup with Colorado in 2022. Even in Monday’s defeat, he made a jaw-dropping save on Jaden Schwartz and allowed just two goals, tying Czech hockey deity Dominik Hasek for the fourth-longest streak of starts with two or fewer goals allowed (13) in the expansion era.
Calgary at Ducks
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday
Where: Honda Center
TV: Victory +, KCOP (Ch. 13)
Ducks at Kings
When: 7 p.m. Thursday
Where: Crypto.com Arena
TV: ESPN+, Hulu, Disney+
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