New franchise records and a third-string goalie have helped the Anaheim Ducks surge back up the standings

After a brutal stretch of play, that culminated in two losses laced with disappointment, the Anaheim Ducks flipped the script in week 6 of the 2026-27 season. Capping off a western Canadian road trip with back-to-back wins over the Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Flames, the Ducks went 4-0 in week 6 and currently sit just outside the playoff bubble with 19 points in the standings. While the Ducks are still a flawed team, especially with questions about who should be starting in net, they leaned on a ridiculous powerplay and some historic performances to fight their way back into playoff contention.

Three stars of the week

Third star: Laurent Brossoit

An offseason acquisition afterthought no longer, as Brossoit went from providing a much-needed wake up call to a floundering Ducks team, to suddenly becoming the best option in net. While his numbers were not stellar by any means, with an .849 save percentage, 3.68 goals against, and -1.8 goals saved above expected, Brossoit did what his other Anaheim goalie counterparts have not been able to do consistently this season; win. Brossoit has a 3-0 record since being called up from the San Diego Gulls and has deservedly run away with the starter's role.

Second star: Jackson LaCombe

LaCombe has quietly been the Ducks best defenseman so far this season and notched 5 points (all assists) in week 6. LaCombe also led all Anaheim skaters in average ice time at 28:45, which is almost 7 minutes more than the next closest skater (Leo Carlsson at 22:00 per game), including an eye-popping 33:09 of ice time in the win over the Oilers. However, LaCombe gets some extra flowers this week for setting a new franchise record.

First star: Cutter Gauthier

To say Gauthier has been on fire lately, would be an understatement, as the winger notched 8 goals in 4 games during week 6 and set a new Ducks franchise record in the process.

It's no coincidence that the Ducks surge up the standings, has coincided with Gauthier finding his scoring touch again, as the winger is one of the main drivers of Anaheim's offense, especially on the powerplay. Gauthier is now in 5th place in the NHL in goal scoring with 12 goals and 4th in shots with 66.

Honorable mention: Pavel Mintyukov

The defenseman may still be prone to a bad pinch or allowing the opposition to get behind him on the rush, but Mintyukov should also be applauded for notching a Gordie Howe hat trick (2 goals, 1 assist, and a fight), in helping to secure the win over the Oilers.

Even though he has primarily played on the third pairing with Noah Warren, Mintyukov averaged the third most ice time on the Ducks blue line, with 21:25.

Biggest concern

Is Lukas Dostal broken?

Brossoit deserves all the stick taps from the Anaheim faithful, after stabilizing the goalie situation during the Ducks 4 game win streak. However, Dostal had 3 games worth of rest in the lead up to the game against the Flames, laid an egg of a performance, and was subsequently pulled for Ville Husso.

In his brief appearance in net, Dostal allowed 3 Flames goals on 11 shots and mustered a paltry .727 save percentage with an ugly 9.00 goals against average. On the whole, Dostal's numbers may be in line with his other Anaheim counterparts, with an .886 save percentage and 3.76 goals against, but Dostal is supposed to be the number one for the Ducks, not the liability he has become. We may have chocked up his poor performance last season, as just the product of a down year, but as his numbers continue to spiral downward this season, questions have to be asked about Dostal's ability to be the guy in the Anaheim crease. If Dostal cannot pull himself out of his funk and the Ducks continue to hover near the playoff bubble, GM Pat Verbeek might be forced to make a trade for a more reliable option; something that seemed inconceivable a couple seasons ago.

What's next?

What's old is new again, as the Ducks will not only be hosting the Pittsburg Penguins on Sunday night, but they will also be debuting the best Hometown Remix jerseys. The Ducks will then host the Nashville Predators on Wednesday night, who are one of the other Western Conference teams jostling for a playoff spot, before closing the week by hosting the New York Islanders on Saturday night.

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