{"id":344347,"date":"2025-12-08T06:54:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T06:54:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/344347\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T06:54:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T06:54:11","slug":"ducks-obliterate-blackhawks-7-1-with-franchise-record-second-period","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/344347\/","title":{"rendered":"Ducks obliterate Blackhawks, 7-1, with franchise-record second period"},"content":{"rendered":"

ANAHEIM, Calif. \u2013 Sunday\u2019s game was a message internally and externally for the Anaheim Ducks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After blowing a 3-0 first-period lead in Chicago last Sunday for the second loss in two meetings against the Blackhawks this season, the Ducks responded to their own play and sent out a broadcast to all comers that this resilient team is not done swinging.<\/p>\n

Anaheim scored four goals on a franchise-record 27 shots in the second period to capture the third and final meeting of this budding rivalry with the Blackhawks in a domineering 7-1 victory at Honda Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbsolutely, and I think that showed,\u201d Leo Carlsson said when asked if there was a specific focus on this game following last week\u2019s result. \u201cIn a seven-nothing game, we never quit. We played like for 20 minutes the last time we were playing Chicago, so it was nice to get the whole game here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carlsson scored two goals, including the Ducks\u2019 second power play goal of the game 15 seconds into the third period. Chris Kreider assisted on both of Carlsson\u2019s tallies as part of a three-assist night.<\/p>\n

Beckett Sennecke scored a spectacular goal and assisted on Mason McTavish\u2019s power-play strike, the Ducks\u2019 first extra-man tally of the game. Jacob Trouba bombed in the Ducks opening score of the game, and Alex Killorn corralled a breakaway goal. Frank Vatrano, No. 77, knocked in the extra point on Anaheim\u2019s seventh goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI liked that we wanted to have it for 60 minutes,\u201d Ducks coach Joel Quenneville said. \u201cExiting that game (last Sunday in Chicago), going into St. Louis (last Monday), we said, hey, this was a self-inflicted wound that we had there. I think we showed clips on how many pucks we turned over in the middle of the ice by trying to make plays that weren’t there. And today, I think we established forecheck, right off the bat, and first shifts in the first and second period, we illustrated what we wanted to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anaheim (18-10-1, 37 points) now takes its best start since 2014-15 off on a five-game East Coast road trip, but following their opener in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, the Ducks will settle into New York City a few days to take on the Islanders, Devils and Rangers.<\/p>\n

Chris Kreider and Jacob Trouba will make their returns to Madison Square Garden next Monday following trades in the past year from the Blueshirts to Orange County.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m sure they had that on their schedule for a while,\u201d Quenneville said. \u201cThe Beatles (Kreider, Trouba and fellow former Rangers Ryan Strome and Frank Vatrano) will be getting back to New York City there when we get there, and it’ll be a good return for them all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

It can’t be understated how much the Ducks controlled this game from opening puck drop to final whistle.<\/p>\n

The Ducks scored four goals in the second period on a franchise-record 27 shots in the period. It\u2019s a team record that\u2019s stood since Anaheim\u2019s inaugural season, Jan. 1, 1994 when the Ducks put 26 shots on goal in the third period at Florida.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything just clicked,\u201d Carlsson said. \u201cTook care of the blue lines pretty good. Put it deep when we had to, just to work from there. A lot of offensive zone time.\u201d<\/p>\n

With 44 shots through two periods and 53 shots in the game, Anaheim was just off the pace of their biggest shooting performance in team history. The Ducks put up 45 shots through two periods and 56 total in a 4-1 Anaheim win over Ottawa on Oct. 13, 2013.<\/p>\n

Of the Ducks 18 skaters, 17 recorded a shot on goal on Sunday, and the only one who didn\u2019t was surprisingly Cutter Gauthier, who leads the NHL in shots per 60 minutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew they played last night, and it’s tough playing d-zone for a majority of the night,\u201d Killorn said. \u201cWhen you got guys like Leo turning up and back, and it’s really hard on their d-men. We recovered a lot of the shots that we got from our d-men. I really liked our o-zone play.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Killorn said, the Ducks didn\u2019t just dominate the shot clock. Anaheim had a complete monopoly zone time against Chicago, who lost 6-0 in Los Angeles last night, to an insane degree.<\/p>\n

The Ducks earned 88% of the expected goals at five-on-five on Sunday, per Natural Stat Trick, which is the best single-game xGF% for as far back as the site\u2019s data goes (2007-08 season). Anaheim\u2019s previous best was an 84.06% expected goals share on Oct. 13, 2014 against Buffalo.<\/p>\n

Anaheim completely titled the chances at five-on-five winning in shot attempts (76-26), scoring chances (40-8) and high-danger chances (21-2).<\/p>\n

This was the Ducks\u2019 fifth seven-goal game, building on their already secured franchise-record of such games in a single season.<\/p>\n

Second power play goal of the game, second Leo Carlsson goal of the game, and the Ducks continue the goal parade on the opening shift of the third period.<\/p>\n

6-0 Ducks. (Chicago lost 6-0 in LA last night.) #FlyTogether<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/FlPXMVJHF2<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Zach Cavanagh (@ZachCav) December 8, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

It looked like the frustration was going to continue with the extra man.<\/p>\n

Anaheim started 0-for-2 on the power play with just one shot on goal on Sunday following an 0-for-5 night on Friday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, the Ducks territorial advantage domination continued in the second period, and on the third power play, Anaheim was buzzing\u2013four shots on goal with the third on a tip from Beckett Sennecke, before the rookie slid the rebound over to Mason McTavish for the nearly empty-net finish, 2-0.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought the trend started last game,\u201d Quenneville said. \u201cIt looked like it was more predictable at creating stuff, and when I say predictable, we kind of knew where people were going. It was nice to break that stretch of having a tough time on a PP.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anaheim doubled the extra-man output on the opening possession of the third period. Mikael Granlund won the face-off, the Ducks entered the zone, and Jackson LaCombe fed Chris Kreider on the left flank. Kreider found Leo Carlsson in Kreider\u2019s usual spot in the net front to stuff home Anaheim\u2019s sixth goal of the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like we didn’t play great on the power play today either, but it was just nice to get one early there in the 3rd period,\u201d Carlsson said. \u201cWe don\u2019t find the guy in the middle too much as we did in the start. Less shots too, which is not ideal. It\u2019s going to get better for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Ducks were scoreless on their previous 17 power play opportunities over the last five games, with two goals on their last 28 tries and three on their last 39. Anaheim scored at least one power play goal in nine of the first 15 games of the season and did not go more than one game without a power play tally in those first 15 games.<\/p>\n

They get rewarded tonight, but I think that we were relying on that early on in the season,\u201d Quenneville said. \u201cWe got a stretch where we didn’t have that expected, needed power play \u00a0goal on this power play opportunity, especially later in the game. I think that if we can recapture that confidence as a unit there, I think that can really help our team game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once again, Ducks 19-year-old rookie Beckett Sennecke showed off his insane skills. Following a two-point night on Friday, Sennecke replicated the feat with another goal and an assist to become just the second Ducks teenager with consecutive multi-point games (Mason McTavish did it twice in 2022-23).<\/p>\n

It was another skillset tonight for Sennecke, who displayed his puck protection and shot on his second-period goal. Sennecke gained the zone on the rush and maintained control with the Chicago defense to his back to find enough space to rip a shot through Arvid Soderblom.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe’s growing into the game for sure,\u201d Carlsson said. \u201cStronger and better, but he’s just so, so dangerous. So, like, unpredictable with the puck, which is dangerous. He’s going to be insane in a few years too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sennecke preserved his spot atop the NHL rookie scoring lead with his 23rd and 24th points of the season, and he\u2019s still the rookie goals leader with nine. He\u2019s now one back of the assists lead with 15.<\/p>\n

His 24 points are already the fourth-most by a Ducks rookie in their first 30 games behind Bobby Ryan\u2019s 29, Paul Kariya\u2019s 26 and Trevor Zegras\u2019 25. Sennecke\u2019s next game will be his 30th.<\/p>\n