The NHL announced on Monday that Anaheim Ducks starting goaltender Lukas Dostal had been named as the NHL’s third star of the week for the week of Jan 19 to Jan 25. Kirill Kaprizov, with nine points (3-6=9) in four games, and Nikita Kucherov, with eight points (2-6=8) in three games, were named first and second stars, respectively.
Dostal (25) finished the week with a 4-0-0, a .925 SV%, and saved 3.33 goals above expected. He stopped 111 of the total 120 shots he saw during the Ducks’ four-game stretch last week, as the Ducks are now riding a seven-game winning streak heading into Edmonton on Monday night.
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Dostal was the backbone of the Ducks' roster as they got off to an 11-3-1 record to open the season. Game flow, eye test, and underlying metrics all suggested the Ducks’ record was kinder to them than their on-ice play dictated. They were able to outscore their problems, and Dostal was performing at a superhuman level in the crease.
His numbers dipped a bit, down to that of an average NHL starter, as November turned to December and eventually the new year, and the Ducks went on a month-long skid from Dec. 11 to Jan. 10, where they only registered two wins and six standings points in 15 games, highlighted (or low-lighted) by a nine-game winless streak.
The Ducks, despite key injuries, seem back on track and improved defensively. As of today, Dostal has a 19-12-2 record, a .895 SV% (.002 below league average), and has saved .7 goals above expected on the season. He’s started 34 and appeared in 35 of the Ducks’ 52 games this season, tying him for seventh-most-utilized goaltender in 2025-26, despite an upper-body injury causing him to miss nine games.
Dostal signed a five-year contract extension that carries an AAV of $6.5 million in mid-July, awarding full-time starter responsibility after the Ducks traded John Gibson, and placing him among the ten highest-paid goaltenders in the NHL.
His number’s been called frequently, and he’s risen to the level his status and salary would indicate. He’s blossomed as a game manager from the crease, freezing pucks when needed, deflecting perimeter shots to safety, getting pucks to stick to him that negate rebounds, and playing more pucks with his stick to catch opponents on changes or start breakouts from his end.
Dostal’s trademarks will always be his quiet athleticism, knowledge of angles, and puck tracking through and around traffic. However, his dedication to his craft suggests he’s just scratching the surface of his potential in this, his third full NHL season for the Ducks.
Dostal will head to Milano Cortino next month to represent Czechia as their starting goaltender at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games. It will be his seventh time representing his home nation and his first time at the Olympics.
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