Sennecke has done it again as he scored the season opening goal for the Ducks

The Ducks came away with a win in their season-opening game. They beat the Vegas Golden Knights on the road. Beckett Sennecke got the Ducks on the board off a beautiful feed from Leo Carlsson. This is two years in a row now that the Toronto, Ontario native has scored the first Ducks goal in a regular season campaign. Last season it was in Seattle as the boys in orange and gold fell to the Kraken 3-1. Sennecke joins three other Ducks to score season-opening goals for two straight years. Those being Rickard Rakell, Andrew Cogliano and Rob Niedermayer.

Many firsts on opening night

Some other firsts for the Ducks in the opener were the first NHL games for Judd Caufield and Noah Warren, respectively. The latter earned his first point in the show with an assist on the goal by veteran Alex Killorn. Caufield was a bit of a surprise for many Ducks fans. I was impressed to see that he made the opening night roster and lineup. He’s been toiling in the AHL with the Gulls for the last three years. He made his NHL debut at 25.

Warren, on the other hand, is a player who is still on the younger side and could be a regular d-man for the Ducks in the coming years, at just 22 right now. It was also the first game as a Duck for a few players. Namely, AJ Greer, Jeff Malott, who scored his first in a Wild Wing jersey, and Travis Mitchell. The former two being full-time NHLers and Mitchell being an up and comer on the blueline. He played in 9 games for the Isles last season.

The big names got it done

The first multi-point game for a Duck was delivered by Leo. He assisted Becks for the first goal and added the eventual game-winner about halfway through the game. Lukas Dostal got the win with a 27-save performance. The Vegas comeback attempt was thwarted. It was also the first official game in which Mikael Granlund was wearing the “C” for the Ducks. As well, Granny instituted a new tradition for this season, as he made tribute to the Finnish Flash.

Overall, it was a pretty good start for this Ducks team. The concerning thing is the 4-goal lead that was almost blown, but they got the two points anyhow. Anaheim got through game one, and they have a long season ahead of them with a big matchup coming on Sunday, October 4 at Honda Center.

The Ducks will host the Florida Panthers in the home opener. Greer will be on the other side now, as he won two Cups with the Cats in the last few years. It’ll be interesting to see if rookie Nikita Klepov or Sam Colangelo draw into the lineup. Perhaps in place of Frank Vatrano.

Final thoughts

I’m happy the Ducks won their first game. I’m excited for them to play at Honda Center against an exciting Panthers team, with the Tkachuk brothers doing what they do. It’ll be a reunion for Greer with his old team, and the last Ducks captain, Radko Gudas returning to Anaheim not long after leaving in Free Agency. I would love to see a Klepov debut. As well, I am hoping for a strong win from the boys and for Cutter Gauthier to open his account for goals this season. Go Ducks!

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