Anaheim’s fifth straight win is no fluke: a 40-save masterclass from Lukas Dostal and cold-blooded shootout snipes from Mikael Granlund and rookie Cutter Gauthier just dethroned the NHL-points-leader Avalanche in their own barn.
How Anaheim Flipped the Script in Denver
Wednesday’s 2-1 shootout triumph wasn’t a lucky bounce. It was a tactical ambush. The Ducks clogged neutral lanes, forced Colorado to the perimeter, and allowed Lukas Dostal to see every shot. The 23-year-old Czech backstop turned away all three Avalanche attempts in the breakaway contest and 40 of 41 during regulation and overtime, good for a .976 save percentage on the night.
Colorado entered with the league’s best points percentage (.780) and a seven-game home point streak. Anaheim left with both trends snapped and a six-game road trip suddenly looking like a springboard, not a slog.
The Decisive Shootout Frame
- Round 1: Mikael Granlund froze Scott Wedgewood with a forehand-backhand-forehand roof job.
- Round 2: Cutter Gauthier, 20, went five-hole on his first-ever NHL shootout attempt.
- Dostal denied Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Artturi Lehkonen in succession—no rebounds, no second chances.
The sequence took 92 seconds; the ripple effect could last months.
Killorn’s Milestone Night
Alex Killorn suited up for his 1,000th NHL game—all but 76 of them with the two-time Cup champion Lightning before signing a two-year, $3.5 million deal with Anaheim in July 2023. The 34-year-old winger logged 17:03 TOI, blocked two shots and initiated the forecheck that led directly to Jeffrey Viel’s second-period tally.
Killorn becomes the 400th player in league history to reach quadruple-digit games, and the first to do it while actively chasing a playoff spot for a franchise in transition.
By the Numbers: Ducks vs. Avalanche
- Shots: Anaheim 28, Colorado 41
- Power-play chances: Ducks 0/2, Avalanche 0/3
- Face-off win %: Anaheim 54, Colorado 46
- Hits: 38 combined (Ducks 21, Avs 17)
- Dostal’s streak: five straight starts allowing ≤2 goals
Injury Report: Avalanche Missing Heavy Minutes
Coloraless were already without Gabriel Landeskog (upper body, 14th straight), Devon Toews (upper, 3rd straight) and Joel Kiviranta (lower). Logan O’Connor has yet to debut after offseason hip surgery. Even with NHL depth, those absences equate to nearly $18 million in cap hit watching from the press box.
Valeri Nichushkin returned after a car accident on Monday held him out versus Washington; he logged 19:04 but managed only one shot and no points.
What This Means for the Standings
The victory vaults Anaheim to 54 points—within four of the final West wild-card slot—while Colorado remains atop the Central at 71 points but sees its cushion over Dallas shrink to three. The Ducks have now beaten three division leaders (Vancouver, Winnipeg, Colorado) in this five-game heater, proving the kids are ahead of schedule.
Next Up
Anaheim continues its six-game swing Friday in Seattle against the Kraken, a club one point ahead in the wild-card race. Colorado finishes its season-long seven-game homestand versus Philadelphia on the same night, hoping to welcome back at least Toews before a four-game eastern road trip.
Stick with onlytrustedinfo.com for the fastest, most authoritative postgame analysis—where every highlight is instant context and every stat tells the next story before the ice dries.
