The Anaheim Ducks clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Monday for the first time since 2018.
The Ducks (42-32-6), who were idle, qualified when the Nashville Predators lost 3-2 to the San Jose Sharks. They are tied for second in the Pacific Division with the Edmonton Oilers, one point behind the Vegas Golden Knights. Edmonton holds second place with six more regulation wins than Anaheim (31-25).
Joel Quenneville, who was hired as coach on May 8 to replace Greg Cronin, has the Ducks in the playoffs after they missed out for seven straight seasons, finishing no higher than sixth in their division in that time. Quenneville became the second coach in NHL history to win 1,000 games in Anaheim’s 6-5 victory against Edmonton on Feb. 25.
Forward Cutter Gauthier leads the Ducks with 40 goals and 67 points in 74 games this season. Forward Leo Carlsson has 66 points (29 goals, 37 assists) in 68 games and rookie forward Beckett Sennecke has 60 points (23 goals, 37 assists) in 80 games. Defenseman John Carlson, who was acquired from the Washington Capitals on March 5, has 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in 14 games since the trade, including his first NHL hat trick in a 6-1 win against the Sharks on April 9.
Goalie Lukas Dostal is 30-19-4 with a 3.10 goals-against average and .889 save percentage in 55 games (54 starts), and Ville Husso is 9-8-2 with a 3.21 GAA and .887 save percentage in 19 games (18 starts).
Anaheim ranks 13th in the NHL in scoring (3.23 goals per game) after it ranked in the bottom three each of the previous three seasons.
The Ducks have two games remaining in the regular season, beginning at the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; FDSNWIX, FDSNNO, Victory+, KCOP-13, KSTC). The playoffs begin Saturday.
