IRVINE, Calif. – The hosts ultimately found themselves being a bit too gracious in the finale of the Golden State Rookie Faceoff at Great Park Ice on Sunday afternoon.

The Los Angeles Kings took advantage of a slow Ducks line change, a power play and an Anaheim own goal in the second period and added an empty-netter to take down the Ducks, 4-1.

The Kings’ Kenny Connors netted a hat trick with a power play goal, earning credit for the Anaheim own goal and putting in the empty-netter. Los Angeles top offensive prospect Liam Greentree earned two assists, and Carter George, Team Canada’s 2025 World Juniors goaltender, made 37 saves.

The Ducks scored their third power play goal of the Rookie Faceoff in the third period, as Beckett Sennecke fed Nico Myatovic in the slot, and Myatovic’s shot deflected off Tim Washe in front for Washe’s second goal of the tournament and Anaheim’s only goal on Sunday.

Anaheim outshot Los Angeles, 38-25.

“There’s always the empty feeling when you look at the scoreboard and they have more than you, but I think the guys certainly showed growth,” San Diego Gulls coach Matt McIlvane said. “That’s our objective today was to show change. We weren’t happy with a lot of elements of our game, and the areas we were targeting, I thought the guys executed pretty strongly on, and I think they’re all more equipped to go do a great job now for (Joel Quenneville) and his staff, as they’re pushing towards making the Ducks.”

Evaluating Beckett Sennecke

After a very quiet opener against San Jose on Friday, eyes were on the Ducks’ 2024 No. 3 overall pick to make a bigger impact on Sunday.

Sennecke came out of a cannon on his first shift flying up the wing into the offensive zone, crashing the net for a tight chance and later slamming into the boards looking for a big hit.

However for the game, just like the opener, Sennecke ended up with only a secondary assist on the power play with three shots on goal for a total of five shots in the tournament.

There were plenty of good looks for Sennecke and a few instances being knocked off the puck and turnovers, but ultimately, Sennecke’s prospects will not be judged based on the performance of two rookie games. 

The 19-year-old has a broader focus for his immediate and long-term future in the Ducks organization.

“I think it’s a great learning experience for all of us,” Sennecke said of the rookie camp. “You got a head start on all the systems that Coach Q’s gonna bring in, and I think a huge advantage for all this in here. I think it’s just getting kind of that summer rust off and getting back into the game form.”

Sennecke will get his fair run when the Ducks’ main training camp opens this week. He will get his chances during the preseason games, and he may even get that nine-game NHL trial before the Ducks have to decide whether to send him back to OHL Oshawa or not.

“Whatever I am, I just want to come in and learn,” Sennecke said. “I mean that’s all you can do as a young hockey player, just kind of soak in as much information wherever I am.”

Highs and Lows in Tomas Suchanek’s Return to Net

For the first time in 17 months, Tomas Suchanek took to the crease for a competitive game. The 22-year-old Czech ruptured his ACL before the last preseason, and with a full year plus away, Suchanek was more than ready to play on Sunday.

“It felt like I’m back, finally,” Suchanek said. Felt ready to be in the game and be part of the team. I really enjoyed it. It was so much fun.”

Suchanek stopped 13 of 16 shots against, but the story of the goals against are atypical.

The first Kings goal came off a breakaway, as Los Angeles split the Ducks defense on a long line change. Coach Matt McIlvane said that’s simply a preseason mistake.

The second Kings goal came on a power play rebound, as Suchanek made a lunging glove stop but couldn’t control the bounce. One he’d want back, but surely excusable after all the time off.

The third Kings goal, well, that’s on Suchanek. On the penalty kill, the Kings pitchforked it out of the zone, and Suchanek came out for a routine play. As he turned to fire the puck behind the net for a rim around, Suchanek accidentally shot the puck into his own net.

A gaffe, to be sure, but something everyone will be quick to put behind them, as Suchanek moves forward to compete for his spot with the San Diego Gulls.

“I went up to him after the second period, and I said, ‘I know you’re going to think about it for the next few days, but just forget it,” McIlvane said. “Those are the things that happen when you miss 17 months. He played a solid hockey game, and that’s an easy fix.”

Suchanek was a huge part of a Gulls surge two seasons ago, with a 14-10-5 record with a .910 save percentage, and his injury turned out to not be the first for San Diego goaltenders last season, which dealt a blow.

“It was awesome. Great to see him back in action,” Nico Myatovic said. “And he played really well. It was tough coming in after a year off, to play a full game like that, but he did an amazing job. We were lucky to have him back.”

With the rookie camps in the books, plenty of these players will go back to their junior teams with their games enriched and lessons learned to continue their development.

Plenty more will stick around for the Ducks main camp this week or be part of the AHL mission with the San Diego Gulls.

From the main camp perspective, McIlvane was consistent in his messaging that the goal of this rookie camp was setting up the young players to make an easier transition to a new Ducks voice in Quenneville, and that the Rookie Faceoff games gave them the platform to put these system lessons into practice.

“The challenge is you want the kids to be able to go perform. You also want to give them enough, but not have them overthink,” McIlvane said. “You try to strike that balance, and you teach a little defense at the beginning and all of a sudden, it’s the offense that’s the hole that we need to fill. So you go fix on some of that stuff and this line changes.”

“It’s the beginning, you know, and I think if we keep that type of a mindset that we’re here to support these guys, in their efforts to go show the Ducks brass, staff, scouts, coaches, et cetera, what they can do. And, you know, if we take that mentality of letting them shine and try to help them all on the way, I think the tournament that sets up to be a good success.”

Once Ducks camp breaks, McIlvane and players like Nico Myatovic, who wore the captain’s C in this tournament, will head down to San Diego, and it may be the Gulls who benefit most from the environment of this rookie camp.

“We’re really looking forward to it,” Myatovic said. “We’ve got a good group coming back. Some guys are getting older, and the mission is playoffs here and trying to make a deep run. So we’re really looking forward to it.”