ANAHEIM — The Anaheim Ducks opened their exhibition schedule with a decisive 6-2 win over the visiting San Jose Sharks on Sunday at Honda Center, rolling out a more NHL-heavy lineup than expected against a Sharks group that traveled with a mostly AHL roster featuring just three NHL regulars from last season.
Laurent Brossoit got the start for Anaheim against the club he finished the 2025-26 campaign with and stopped 18 of 20 shots. He was opposed by Eric Comrie, who backed up Connor Hellebuyck for the past two seasons with the Winnipeg Jets, and Comrie stopped 14 of 16 in a scheduled half-game before Matt Davis entered and saved 12 of 16 shots. Anaheim's star players dictated play and generated chances on nearly every touch, though a couple of defensive miscommunications and misreads led to odd-man breaks that San Jose converted for both of its goals.
Prospect Nikita Klepov was given a premium opportunity alongside cornerstone forwards Leo Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier and matched their processing pace, showing high IQ, quick decision-making and the ability to spin off checks to create space. Nico Myatovic, who has flown under the radar after modest production in his first two full AHL seasons from 2024-26, skated with Beckett Sennecke and Mikael Granlund and tallied two assists, winning board battles and driving forecheck pressure that directly led to Sennecke's second and third goals — first on a tenacious forecheck and extended cycle, then by keeping a broken breakout moving up ice.
Defenseman Tristan Luneau absorbed a heavy workload after Drew Helleson was limited and shut down toward the end of the second period with an undisclosed injury, logging 25:31 of ice time. Luneau had a poor read on a loose puck in neutral ice that led to San Jose's second goal, but otherwise drove play as a puck-mover, igniting Anaheim's first goal, setting up its fourth and scoring its sixth. The Ducks will continue training camp on Tuesday before back-to-back preseason games against the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday at Honda Center and against the Sharks in San Jose on Thursday.