The wait is over: the Anaheim Ducks have more than one regulation win, getting their second one against the Montreal Canadiens Thursday night, a much-needed injection of positivity after a pair of dreadful defeats. Beyond the fact that the Ducks managed to get two points without needing overtime or shootout, there were plenty of bigger picture positives in the win, some that bode well both for the short and long term outlook of the franchise’s trajectory.

Power Play Continues to Shine

Anaheim’s power play, once a massive weakness for them, has turned into a significant strength (as far as the first unit is concerned). Trevor Zegras began the season on the right flank, to mixed results. From his off wing, he managed to score some goals off of his developing one-timer, but the fit never seemed natural.

Zegras is undoubtedly a lethal play-maker from anywhere on the ice, but the right flank seemed to limit him at times, often too focused on getting his shot off instead of exploiting his passing gifts. To compound the issue, Anaheim could not find another shooting threat on the left flank, so any added benefit to Zegras playing on his off-wing, where he would theoretically have a better passing and shooting angle, was nullified.

The Ducks’ coaching staff eventually moved Zegras to his strong side on the left flank, while inserting Mason McTavish on the right flank, to impressive results. Zegras, as a left-hand shot, has cleaner passing angles available to him, while teams still have to respect his ability to shoot from that position. Meanwhile, McTavish, on his off-wing, possesses a much more natural one-time shot, but also has the vision to execute superb passes when need be.

Here’s how the setup looks: plenty of space on either flank, which is generally where dangerous opportunities are generated from:

The Ducks would score on this exact sequence, but it’s the way in which they did it that stands out. McTavish, before even receiving Cam Fowler’s pass from the point, recognizes the gap that Montreal has left open in the middle lane, and immediately exploits it with a one-touch pass.

Because McTavish is also a shooting threat, the Canadiens’ penalty killers cannot cheat off of him either once he receives the puck. McTavish knows that, and leverages a shot fake into a perfect one-time pass over to Zegras.

Zegras, being on his strong side, is able to catch the puck on his forehand and rifle a pass to Troy Terry at the goal-mouth, which leads to Anaheim’s first goal of the night.

Notice how when Zegras catches the puck, he’s able to scan the ice and utilize the space in front of him to sell himself as a shooting threat. This forces the penalty kill to play him honestly, before then threading a perfect pass onto Terry’s stick. Should that top unit continue to get more and more ice time, Anaheim’s power play should only continue to climb in the rankings

Lukas Dostal Shows Potential

Both John Gibson and Anthony Stolarz are currently out for Anaheim, leaving a massive void to be filled in net. Thankfully for the Ducks, one Lukas Dostal has been developing in the American Hockey League and has 84 games under his belt on the farm. Dostal has often been regarded as the goalie of the future in Anaheim, but there has been some skepticism in the public scouting sphere due to his relative lack of size.

In a game now dominated by goaltenders that could easily pass off as basketball players thanks to their imposing heights, Dostal’s six-foot, two-inches listed height seems relatively small. However, all Dostal has ever done throughout his professional career is perform well, posting a respectable .916 save percentage in each season for the affiliate in San Diego. Now, with injuries in net for the big club, what better opportunity to show that those doubts about his size are unfounded?

Against Montreal, Dostal showed all of the skills that have him projected as a potential future starter for Anaheim. He was calm in net, with little to no wasted movement as he turned aside dangerous opportunities from Montreal’s high-end forwards such as Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki. The most encouraging sign, though, may have been how he performed in net-front scrambles, an area where presumably his lower stature may come into play.

Here, watch as he manages to consistently track the puck in a crowd, with his head constantly moving while staying strong on his edges, as he eventually freezes the puck:

Dostal turned aside 30 of 32 shots en route to victory, and posted a plus-1.33 goals-saved above expected according to Evolving Hockey, meaning that he in fact stopped just over a goal more than an average NHL goaltender would have based on the shots he faced. All in all, there’s still a long way to go for him to show he can truly be an NHL starter, but with the present opportunity due to injuries and the game he played last night, he’s clearly up to the challenge.

McTavish Continues to Shine

McTavish does not play with the flair of a Zegras, but he can still “wow” onlookers with the subtle nuances that he brings to the table. Quite often, it will not be a high-end, technical stickhandling move around a defender, or a blistering shot that stands out, but instead a clever passing play in the neutral zone or off of the half-wall to free up a teammate. These smaller-scale plays add up, and make life consistently easier for McTavish’s line-mates, and they were reflected in his numbers against Montreal, as the Ducks controlled over 75 percent of the on-ice expected goals with McTavish in the game.

Here, McTavish springs a Ducks’ rush thanks to a one-handed pass in the neutral zone. McTavish initially collects the puck in the defensive zone to lead the counter attack, and when he loses control ever so slightly, manages to win the battle for the loose puck, and has the presence of mind and the technical ability to poke the puck up to Sam Carrick. Jayson Megna would eventually end up getting a glorious scoring opportunity off of that rush.

The little things are also the big things, and McTavish is already a master of that paradox. Of course, his high-end, more attention-grabbing tools are still there as well, as he showed on his secondary assist on the Terry power play tally, and even got off a powerful one-timer that gave goaltender Jake Allen some trouble on a later man advantage. McTavish has a compact shooting motion, allowing him to fluidly get shots off even when he has to adjust his body positioning.

Although the Ducks’ season has been a disappointment, their second regulation win showed a roadmap to making this a fruitful development year: elevate young players into positions to succeed (Max Comtois also played a fantastic game on McTavish’s wing) and provide developing AHL players opportunities to develop at the NHL level.

Of course, Dostal will likely return to San Diego once the Ducks return to full health in net, but that does not preclude general manager Pat Verbeek from eventually calling up the likes of Brayden Tracey, Drew Helleson, Jacob Perreault, and others to show what they can do with the big club. The playoffs may already be out of the question, but Anaheim can still make the most of this season.