Defense and goaltending were optional in week 7 collapse for the Anaheim Ducks

Well, that was a gigantic waste of time last night, as the Anaheim Ducks were walloped 6-2 by the New York Islanders at Honda Center. After riding high on a five-game winning streak, boosted by some historic scoring from Cutter Gauthier, Anaheim decided to nosedive instead, going 1-2 in week 7 of the 2026-27 season. The Ducks are still currently in a playoff spot with 21 standings points, but that speaks more to how inept the rest of the Pacific Division is versus Anaheim's staying power as a playoff team. For context, the other two Western Conference wildcard spots are occupied by Central Division teams, the Dallas Stars with 24 points and Utah Mammoth with 23 points. Anaheim is lucky they play in the Pacific Division. As has been the case for most of this season and all of last season honestly, Anaheim's ceiling has been limited by a major flaw.

Biggest concern

Team defense

Lukas Dostal's re-debut as the goalie for Anaheim could not have gone any worse against the Islanders. Yes, his stats were not great by any measure, 6 goals allowed on 25 New York shots and -3.72 goals saved above expected, but the defense in front of Dostal did not do him any favors either.

Multiple 2 on 1 chances.

And even Anaheim skaters knocking Dostal out of position.

The defense was absolutely putrid and the loss against the Islanders only further hammered home that point. Anaheim allowed an average of 4 goals per game in week 7 and is third worst in the entire NHL, giving up an average of 3.8 goals per game. The Ducks offense, on the other hand, is 6th best in the NHL, scoring 3.65 goals per game, but the Ducks are obviously giving up more goals than they are scoring, which has been a recipe for disaster. Jackson LaCombe is the best and most reliable option on the Anaheim blue line. Pavel Mintyukov and Tristan Luneau can be good, but they also have mishaps in the defensive zone. The rest of the defense corps has been a rotating cast, featuring some combination of Travis Mitchell, Noah Warren, Tyson Hinds, and Drew Helleson. The Ducks currently have less than $1 million in available cap space, which is the direct result of GM Pat Verbeek dragging his feet in the summer, limiting Anaheim's ability of bringing in more suitable blue line options without making a trade. It's a mess and there's no Duncan Keith or Brent Seabrook walking through the door to save Joel Quenneville from Verbeek's incompetence.

With that rant over, let's try to move on to something a little bit cheerier. The pickings are slim, but let's see if we can parse out some three stars of the week.

Three stars of the week

Third star: Nikita Nesterenko

Fourth liners rarely get the love or the spotlight, compared to their counterparts playing higher in the lineup. However, after failing to capitalize on a misplay earlier in the game against the Islanders, Nesterenko made sure to bury his second chance on a defensive miscue.

That may have been Nesterenko's only goal for the week, but it was one more than either Leo Carlsson or Beckett Sennecke had. There's nothing fancy to Nesterenko's game and he only averaged 10:23 of ice time in week 7, but we'll take the small victories where we can.

Second star: Mikael Granlund

At least the captain of the Ducks showed up to play this week, as Granlund notched 6 points (2 goals, 4 assists), while averaging 20:12 of ice time.

Pour one out though for the short-lived and aptly named "GranKids" line, as the Islanders debacle destroyed what could have been one of the most unique nicknames for the combination of Granlund, Sennecke, and Cutter Gauthier.

And speaking of Gauthier...

First star: Cutter Gauthier

How could it be anyone else? Gauthier was the lone bright spot, in an otherwise disappointing end to week 7, as the Anaheim winger notched another goal in the loss to Islanders.

Gauthier has not only scored a goal in 8 consecutive games, but he has also scored a whopping 15 goals in his last 8. Gauthier is now tied with Kyle Connor and Kiril Kaprizov for 2nd in the NHL in goal scoring with 17 on the season and is just one back of Leon Draisaitl for the lead.

What's next?

The Ducks are back at it again tonight, as they will be hosting the Calgary Flames at Honda Center. And the schedule will not be getting any easier, as the Ducks will essentially be playing every other night for the rest of November, culminating in a home and home series against the Los Angeles Kings to bookend the Thanksgiving holiday. Let's see if the Ducks can pull themselves back up and at the very least, mitigate some of the defensive mistakes. But if history is any indication, I wouldn't get your hopes up.

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