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The 21st Duck, Daniel “Doc” Jacobs takes the ice with the Anaheim Ducks before the team’s home opener against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, at the Honda Center. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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ANAHEIM — It was a new season for the Ducks and one that brought the rarest of novelties to Honda Center on Tuesday night: a game that was won by the power play.

The Ducks bested the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-3, scoring their first goal and their final one with the extra man to take their first home game of the campaign.

A record 17,622 fans were on hand to see the Ducks win their 10th consecutive home opener. Just as remarkable as their power-play success was that they drew six penalties and only committed one.

“There was a lot of excitement and a lot of high-quality chances, a lot of run-and-gun,” said new Ducks coach Joel Quenneville, who received a warm welcome when he was introduced before the game. “We can score, we can make plays and the power play’s been effective. There’s a lot of positives.”

Trade acquisition Chris Kreider bookended the scoring with a pair of man-advantage markers and also had the lone assist on Drew Helleson’s goal. Cutter Gauthier added a goal and Leo Carlsson chipped in two assists. Lukáš Dostál earned his first victory of 2025-26, making 22 saves.

Justin Brazeau, former Duck Rickard Rakell and Anthony Mantha tallied for Pittsburgh. Sidney Crosby and Ryan Shea each contributed two assists. Tristan Jarry stopped 18 shots.

“Special teams were going to be big, and they were the difference tonight,” Crosby said.

Some 18:26 of scoreless hockey in the third period appeared to have the game destined for overtime, but Parker Wotherspoon shot the puck over the glass to give the Ducks their fifth power play of the evening.

Just six seconds into it, the Ducks cashed in on Kreider’s redirection from the slot off a smooth setup from Troy Terry. The Penguins drew no nearer and had to take a sixth penalty to prevent an empty-netter.

“Tonight was the best [effort] yet in terms of flowing off each other and interchanging pieces,” said Kreider, who plays at the netfront. “At least those four guys. I try not to move too much. But they were just zipping it around.”

Through 40 minutes the teams were tied at 3-all after swapping goals in the middle frame.

Pittsburgh knotted the score after Jacob Trouba scrambled back into the defensive zone to get a stick on Mantha’s shot, only to see his twig break, sending the puck fluttering past Dostál with 2:59 left in the period.

After pinging the post on one trip into the zone, the Ducks took their first lead of the night on the next, 12 seconds before the halfway mark of the game. Kreider recovered the puck low in the Pittsburgh zone, sweeping it high for Helleson for a long shot that beat Jarry.

By the first intermission, the Ducks deadlocked the score, 2-2, after falling behind by a pair of goals in the first 7:01 of the contest and despite being out-shot 15-7.

With 34.7 seconds showing on the clock, they drew level. Beckett Sennecke kept possession alive for Pavel Mintyukov, whose seam pass from the left point to the right dot set up Gauthier’s snipe. Sennecke started his NHL career with a three-game point streak.

“It was a special atmosphere. They had two tipped goals, that’s going to happen, but you could just feel that (the crowd) never wavered,” Terry said. “I give the fans a big assist on at least the first two goals.”

They’d gotten on the board when Carlsson loomed at the bottom of the right circle and slid a pass across the crease for Kreider, who buried the layup for his third goal in three games as a Duck. Newcomer Mikael Granlund had the secondary assist, at the 9:42 mark.

“(Playing with Carlsson) makes my job easier. I just try to keep a strong bottom hand,” Kreider said.

The Ducks had ceded a goal 63 seconds into the game and again at 7:01, when Rakell’s fly-by deflection of Shea’s shot beat Dostál following a won faceoff by Crosby.

On Pittsburgh’s first goal, they also got a free pass to the blue paint, which Brazeau took advantage of to tip Shea’s wrister after he received the puck from Evgeni Malkin.

While the Ducks would like to turn over a new leaf after seven seasons outside the playoffs, their stick-to-it-iveness has been a quality they’ve been pleased to see persist.

“Wherever we’ve been in the standings the last few years, we’ve had a knack for comeback wins, [though] I’d like to not be in that position so frequently,” Terry said. “Whether it’s coming back late in the third or getting down two early and battling back right away, I think it’s a testament to the bond that we have in here and the belief in the room.”


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