Game Notes: Ducks vs Kings Golden State Rookie Faceoff

Tomas Suchanek (ANA)

Suchanek came out sharp, tracking pucks through traffic and battling to find sightlines around screens. Early on, he was anchored to his posts, sealing well and not giving up the short-side freebies. But as the game wore on, his recovery started costing him—too often he slid himself onto the ice, belly-down, which left him without a plan B if the puck stayed alive.

The glove-side goal he gave up was clean, and the miscue on the powerplay—where he tried to clear a puck and ended up banking it in on himself—was a tough look. Both are correctable: one with technical polish, the other with better decision-making under pressure. Bottom line: he’s a battler, but the polish isn’t all the way there.

Carter George (LAK)

George looked like he had a forcefield around him. Calm, steady, and eating pucks for dinner. His rebound control was excellent, especially low with his pads, which killed second chances before they started. He handled a dangerous backdoor play with ease and even threw in a highlight poke check in the third to break up a rush chance.

If there’s a knock, it’s that he didn’t face a ton of extended chaos, so the “how does he look when it gets ugly” question is still unanswered. But when the puck was clean, he made the game look simple. And that’s the mark of a goalie who’s already ahead of the curve.

Michael McIvor (ANA)

McIvor brought the energy in relief. He was loud in net, directing his defense, which you love to see from a rookie. He came up big on a breakaway and wasn’t afraid to throw himself into desperation mode—splits, scrambles, whatever it took to keep pucks out.

That compete level is fun to watch, but the puck control was shaky. On the breakaway stop, for example, he lost track and had to sit on it instead of sealing cleanly. The athleticism is there; now it’s about dialing in the structure so he doesn’t have to be a human pinball to survive.

Devo’s Takeaway

• George: Calm, efficient, ready for the next step.
• Suchanek: Battler, but needs to rein in his mechanics and decision-making.
• McIvor: Vocal competitor with raw tools, but structure has to catch up.

George stole the show by keeping things boring in the absolute best way possible.