Anaheim Ducks netminder Lukas Dostal (25) has been the sole reason for several of Anaheim’s wins over the past two seasons. A season ago, he played behind one of the worst defensive teams in the NHL since the 2004-05 lockout, and this season, the Ducks are once again in the basement in terms of expected goals against per 60 minutes (3.03), 31st, behind only the Vancouver Canucks (3.08).
Again, to begin the 2025-26 season, he’s had to carry a heavy load early for Anaheim, as they continue to adjust to new defensive and offensive systems as well as several new faces on their roster. To date this season, Dostal has posted an 11-5-1 record, a .904 SV%, and has saved 10.1 goals above expected (10th in the NHL).
Dostal practiced with the Ducks on Tuesday, but was ruled out of Wednesday’s game against the Canucks ahead of the team’s morning skate with an upper-body injury, and was given a “day-to-day” designation. The team announced just before warmups, ahead of their Black Friday game against the Los Angeles Kings, that Dostal would miss the next 2-3 weeks.
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The Ducks recalled Finnish goaltender Ville Husso before Wednesday’s game, and he started the Ducks’ game on Friday against LA, his first NHL action of the 2025-26 season. He posted a 6-4-3 record in the AHL, with a .908 SV% and three shutouts.
The Ducks will rely on Husso and regular backup Petr Mrazek. To date, Mrazek has started six games for the Ducks this season, has a 3-3-0 record, and an .881 SV%.
In the next three weeks, the Ducks will play eleven games, including seven on the road, mostly coming on a five-game road trip to the East Coast before returning to Anaheim on Dec. 19. The Ducks (31 points) exited Friday’s game in sole possession of first place in the Pacific Division, with only a two-point lead on the Kings (29), with the Seattle Kraken (28) and Vegas Golden Knights (28) just behind them.
The compressed NHL schedule and compressed NHL standings have left the Ducks in first place in the Pacific, but just four points separate them and the second wild card team (Utah Mammoth, 27 points), with the San Jose Sharks nipping at their heels. All that to say, this next 2-3 week stretch is tremendously important for Anaheim’s playoff odds.
They’ll have to tighten up several areas of their defensive game that have plagued them this season, including net-front defense, questionable pinches, and sorting assignments against rush attacks.
Husso and Mrazek have had relatively up-and-down NHL careers, and will have to be up to a difficult task if the players in front of them continue to surrender some of the chances that they have to this point in the season.
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