Ducks face Panthers in home opener with NHL history on the line

For the Ducks, the second game of their campaign won’t be too early to make history.

Following their shortest offseason in nearly a decade, they will have the chance to tie the record for the most consecutive victories in home openers in NHL history when they host the Florida Panthers on Sunday evening.

With a win, the Ducks would tie the Montreal Canadiens, who won 11 straight initial home games from 1954 to 1964, and the Boston Bruins, whose streak is active at 11 after shutting out the New York Rangers on Sept. 29. During those 11 seasons, Montreal won six Stanley Cup titles, including five straight, something neither the Ducks nor the Bruins even began to approximate.

But a record is a record, and it will be on the line when the Ducks look to move to 2-0-0 after avenging their playoff loss to the Golden Knights with a 4-3 victory Friday night in Las Vegas. That was a game in which they held a 4-0 lead before an ill-fated challenge, its resulting power-play goal and a late flurry made the match much more intriguing.

“It was a little bit tighter than we wanted at the end. We expected a push, but we won the game, so it’s good,” Leo Carlsson told reporters.

Carlsson scored a goal, slamming home a follow-up after two stellar saves from Carter Hart, and silkily set up Beckett Sennecke to earn a primary assist. Goalie Lukáš Dostál answered the bell in a big way, keeping the first period scoreless until Sennecke’s late goal and staving off Vegas’ late forays.

Flanking Carlsson were fellow big-ticket attacker Cutter Gauthier and one of the many new Ducks, A.J. Greer. Greer skated for the Panthers the past two seasons and said he went to Coach Paul Maurice with his desire to play higher in the lineup. A year later, he’s on the top line for Joel Quenneville.

While the Ducks won their season opener in large measure because of their top players, the Panthers have collected three of a possible four points to date in spite of missing some key figures.

They began their schedule without veteran Brad Marchand, who will spend October recovering from an offseason procedure. Now, they’re again without captain Aleksander Barkov.

Barkov, who led the Cats to consecutive Cup titles in 2024 and 2025, missed all of last season after undergoing reconstructive knee surgery. Barkov might have aggravated the injury in Friday’s 4-3 overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks. After an awkward landing, he asked for the Zamboni doors to be opened and headed to the training room in visible frustration. He did not return to the game and was placed on long-term injured reserve Saturday.

Florida’s travel party will include not one but two Tkachuks, after a trade with the Ottawa Senators brought Brady Tkachuk to join his brother Matthew. Against San Jose, Matthew scored an equalizer that forced overtime in a game Florida had trailed 3-0 and Brady took down former Ducks defenseman Jacob Trouba in a fight.

How to watch: KCOP (Ch. 13), Prime Video