{"id":437004,"date":"2026-01-30T21:46:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T21:46:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/437004\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T21:46:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T21:46:19","slug":"anaheim-ducks-3-stars-for-january-2026-the-hockey-writers-anaheim-ducks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/437004\/","title":{"rendered":"Anaheim Ducks 3 Stars for January 2026 &#8211; The Hockey Writers &#8211; Anaheim Ducks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>January has been full of high highs and low lows for the Anaheim Ducks. Despite beginning the month with five-consecutive losses, they found their mojo again mid-month and posted seven wins in eight games. Six of those wins were against Western Conference opponents, which are all the more critical as we near the latter portion of the regular season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/thehockeywriters.com\/2-realistic-paths-for-panarin-lead-to-california\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">2 Realistic Paths for Panarin Lead to California<\/a><\/p>\n<p>While the recent wins were a team effort, a handful of players stand out among the flock. My three stars for the month of January: <a href=\"https:\/\/thehockeywriters.com\/docs\/lukas-dostal\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Lukas Dostal<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/thehockeywriters.com\/docs\/mikael-granlund\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Mikael Granlund<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/thehockeywriters.com\/docs\/beckett-sennecke\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Beckett Sennecke<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Third Star: Sennecke<\/p>\n<p>Sennecke has been a consistent performer this month, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nhl\/player\/gamelog\/_\/id\/5216858\/beckett-sennecke\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">registering at least a point in nine of 13 games<\/a>. The rookie also had three multi-point performances in that stretch, notching two points each in games against the Los Angeles Kings and Edmonton Oilers and three versus the Calgary Flames. The latter game was a monumental one for Sennecke, too; he scored his first-career hat trick in that game, completing the feat in overtime to get his team a win.<\/p>\n<p>The rookie forward spent roughly 19 minutes on ice per game this month and received just eight penalty minutes. He is fast, accurate, disciplined, and an absolutely incredible player to watch. His consistency, timing, and hockey IQ get rewarded often, and the value he adds to the team is unmatched. <\/p>\n<p>Second Star: Granlund<\/p>\n<p>The veteran forward was an unexpected pickup for the Ducks, but he has proven himself to be a valuable member of the squad. This month is no exception, as he has posted five goals and six assists for 11 pointss.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Mikael-Granlund-Ducks-1200x900.jpg\" alt=\"Mikael Granlund Anaheim Ducks\" class=\"wp-image-1614966\"  \/>Mikael Granlund, Anaheim Ducks (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/38Photography\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Amy Irvin<\/a> \/ The Hockey Writers)<\/p>\n<p>Granlund is highly disciplined, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/g\/granlmi01\/gamelog\/2026\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">spending a measly two minutes<\/a> in the penalty box this month. Therefore, he can be on the ice more often and contribute both offensively and defensively to the team\u2019s efforts. Rarely does a game go by that he does not register at least one shot on goal, and he is skilled at blocking shots and taking away the puck from opponents.<\/p>\n<p>Like Sennecke, Granlund also registered an impressive hat trick this month, doing so versus the Oilers.. All three of his goals came on the power play, an unusual and standout feat. He spent at least 18 minutes on ice per game this month and consistently finds ways to contribute to every game.<\/p>\n<p>First Star: Dostal<\/p>\n<p>To put it simply, the Ducks would not be where they are today without their goaltender. Dostal has more than proven himself as a valuable part of the team, particularly over the past two seasons. This month, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nhl\/player\/gamelog\/_\/id\/4588165\/lukas-dostal\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">he notched six wins<\/a>, made a massive 278 saves, and finished January with a .914 save percentage and 2.49 goals against average.<\/p>\n<p>Dostal was a major reason the Ducks were able to pull themselves out of their losing streak and get back on track, keeping their playoff hopes alive. He is one of the team\u2019s best players and inspires the skaters to get behind him and step up their game and shoulders his burden with ease. He is headed to the Winter Olympics next month to play with Czechia.<\/p>\n<p>As the Ducks close out January and play just a handful of games in February, every win \u2014 and every player \u2014 is more important than ever. With playoffs looming, the Ducks will need to continue to have a high level of success to stay in contention for the postseason. They face two division rivals in the Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken before the Olympic break and will need to post wins in both.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/thehockeywriters.substack.com\/s\/anaheim-ducks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener nofollow\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"122\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Ducks_Banner-1200x122.jpg\" alt=\"SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE TO OUR ANAHEIM DUCKS SUBSTACK NEWSLETTER\" class=\"wp-image-1567223\"  \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a xlink:href=\"https:\/\/thehockeywriters.com\/anaheim-ducks\/\" target=\"---\" xlink:title=\"Anaheim Ducks\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/p>\n<p><\/a><br \/>\n<a xlink:href=\"https:\/\/thehockeywriters.com\/boston-bruins\/\" target=\"---\" xlink:title=\"Boston Bruins\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/p>\n<p><\/a><br \/>\n<a xlink:href=\"https:\/\/thehockeywriters.com\/buffalo-sabres\/\" target=\"---\" xlink:title=\"Buffalo Sabres\" 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xlink:href=\"https:\/\/thehockeywriters.com\/pittsburgh-penguins\/\" target=\"---\" xlink:title=\"Pittsburgh Penguins\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/p>\n<p><\/a><br \/>\n<a xlink:href=\"https:\/\/thehockeywriters.com\/san-jose-sharks\/\" target=\"---\" xlink:title=\"San Jose Sharks\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/p>\n<p><\/a><br \/>\n<a xlink:href=\"https:\/\/thehockeywriters.com\/seattle-kraken\/\" target=\"---\" xlink:title=\"Seattle Kraken\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/p>\n<p><\/a><br \/>\n<a xlink:href=\"https:\/\/thehockeywriters.com\/st-louis-blues\/\" target=\"---\" xlink:title=\"St. Louis Blues\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/p>\n<p><\/a><br \/>\n<a xlink:href=\"https:\/\/thehockeywriters.com\/tampa-bay-lightning\/\" target=\"---\" xlink:title=\"Tampa Bay Lightning\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/p>\n<p><\/a><br \/>\n<a xlink:href=\"https:\/\/thehockeywriters.com\/toronto-maple-leafs\/\" target=\"---\" xlink:title=\"Toronto Maple Leafs\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/p>\n<p><\/a><br \/>\n<a xlink:href=\"https:\/\/thehockeywriters.com\/utah-mammoth\/\" target=\"---\" xlink:title=\"Utah Hockey Club\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/p>\n<p><\/a><br \/>\n<a xlink:href=\"https:\/\/thehockeywriters.com\/vancouver-canucks\/\" target=\"---\" xlink:title=\"Vancouve Canucks\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/p>\n<p><\/a><br \/>\n<a xlink:href=\"https:\/\/thehockeywriters.com\/vegas-golden-knights\/\" target=\"---\" xlink:title=\"Vegas Golden Knights\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/p>\n<p><\/a><br \/>\n<a xlink:href=\"https:\/\/thehockeywriters.com\/washington-capitals\/\" target=\"---\" xlink:title=\"Washington Capitals\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/p>\n<p><\/a><br \/>\n<a xlink:href=\"https:\/\/thehockeywriters.com\/winnipeg-jets\/\" target=\"---\" xlink:title=\"Winnipeg Jets\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"January has been full of high highs and low lows for the Anaheim Ducks. Despite beginning the month&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":437005,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[2210,233,5292,1199,1739,5,3041,1271,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-437004","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-anaheim-ducks","8":"tag-anaheim","9":"tag-anaheim-ducks","10":"tag-anaheimducks","11":"tag-beckett-sennecke","12":"tag-ducks","13":"tag-hockey","14":"tag-lukas-dostal","15":"tag-mikael-granlund","16":"tag-nhl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115986248531928717","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=437004"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437004\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/437005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=437004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=437004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=437004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}