The Ducks’ deep talent pool was on full display during an 8-4 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Friday in the opening game of the Rookie Faceoff Tournament in Scottsdale, Arizona. Sasha Pastujov’s hat trick was one of several offensive highlights in a dominating win.
Trevor Zegras scored only 65 seconds into the game, setting an early tone.
Perhaps the lopsided score was to be expected since the Ducks’ lineup featured five recent first-round draft picks, including the 20-year-old Zegras, who was their top pick (ninth overall) in 2019. Zegras also assisted on Mason McTavish’s power-play goal as the Ducks took a 3-0 first-period lead.
The Ducks’ rookies were especially strong down the middle of the ice, with Zegras, McTavish and Bo Groulx filling the top three center spots, and making an impression with a variety of different styles of play. Zegras was flashy, McTavish was physical and Groulx was determined.
Zegras and McTavish misfired on their first chance together on the power play, but not the second.
“No, I wasn’t (angry),” McTavish told reporters. “I just told (Zegras), I have to remember, yeah, the first one was a little behind me. The next one was right in the wheelhouse and I said, ‘Yeah, that’s where I like it.’ So, it was just pretty funny. He’s obviously a sick passer and it’s a treat playing with him.”
The Sharks’ rookies hardly possessed the puck in the opening period, with the Ducks’ centers controlling play for extended stretches. McTavish was picked third overall in ’21 and Groulx was a second-round selection in ’18. Jack Badini (third round in ’17) filled the role as the fourth-line center.
Brayden Tracey (2019), Jacob Perreault (’20) and Jamie Drysdale (’20) were the other first-round picks in the lineup. Perreault (power play) and Hunter Drew scored second-period goals as the Ducks’ extended their lead to 5-1 going into the third. Drew shifted from defense to right wing during the offseason.
Pastujov, a third-round pick in July, scored twice and Perreault once in a penalty-filled third period. At one point, the Ducks held a commanding 7-2 lead after Pastujov scored the third of his three goals, with two coming in the opening minutes of the final period.
Roman Durny and Gage Alexander split the goaltending duties, with Lukas Dostal remaining behind to skate with the Ducks’ veterans in their ongoing informal practices at Great Park Ice in Irvine.
Dostal has played in two previous rookie tournaments. So, the Ducks’ management decided it was time for Durny, a fifth-round pick in 2018, and Alexander, a fifth-round selection in July, to play..
