ANAHEIM — When the Ducks last qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs, rookie Beckett Sennecke was still in elementary school, and he has sometimes made his transition to the NHL look as easy as finger painting.
He notched a goal and an assist on Sunday, his second career multipoint effort and best all-around outing as a Duck, to help the Ducks take down a second straight formidable foe from the Eastern Conference. After dispatching the Detroit Red Wings and New Jersey Devils, the Ducks will next square off with the Florida Panthers, who are on a quest for a three-peat as Stanley Cup champs.
Sennecke, 19, was the subject of some speculation in terms of his development path for this season, but with four goals, seven points and 11 games already under his belt, it looks like he’ll be staying in one spot.
“He’s grown up right in front of our eyes here. Offensively, the play he made on that goal shows that he’s capable of making high-end plays,” Coach Joel Quenneville said. “At the same time, he has some plays that he’s starting to eliminate out of his game, turnovers in tough areas to make a play. He has the puck a lot, which we like, and his play recognition is high-end.”
Quenneville acknowledged that it wasn’t always a certainty that Sennecke could contribute immediately, with his showings at three different camps demonstrating only flashes of the player he could be.
“His overall game is getting more consistent as far as how he plays in his own end, positional awareness, using his stick and getting in shooting lanes,” Quenneville said. “The offensive side of things, he’s got it, so get out of the way and let him go.”
Sennecke has received plenty of attention from the coaching staff, which typically gives him a pair of emphases for each game. He spoke of valuing his time away from the puck.
“As a young guy coming in, that’s one of the biggest things. You can’t be a defensive liability out there, you want them to be able to trust you,” Sennecke said.
He has found a home on a line with Mason McTavish, 22, and Cutter Gauthier, 21. Gauthier leads the Ducks in goals while McTavish’s eight points in 11 games could be even more respectable. He has posted 2.4 goals below his shooting talent, per MoneyPuck, a mark even more snakebit than that of Frank Vatrano, who scored 37 goals two years ago but has just one freshly scored one this season.
“They’re all capable, individually, to make good plays, and I think, collectively, it’s got the makings of a nice line,” Quenneville said.
In addition to the emergence of Sennecke and his line, the Ducks have continued to rely heavily upon goalie Lukáš Dostál. The Ducks’ offense has been beyond resurgent – they rank fourth in the NHL this season in goals per game and if they can maintain this rate it would be the highest-scoring campaign in franchise history – but the defense remains bottom five in terms of expected goals against.
Enter Dostál, who now leads the NHL in goals saved above expected and who earned NHL first-star honors last week with a 1.63 goals-against average, .948 save percentage and an unblemished 3-0-0 record.
“That’s why he’s our rock,” Vatrano said.
PANTHERS AT DUCKS
When: Tuesday, 7 p.m.
Where: Honda Center
TV: Ch. 13