Sennecke nets hat trick in first NHL game in Canada as Ducks edge Flames 4-3 in OT

“It’s just one of those games where everything goes in for you,” said Sennecke. “You get them every once in a while.”

It was the third hat trick by a teenager in the NHL this season. The other two were recorded by San Jose’s Macklin Celebrini, who went first overall in the 2024 NHL draft in which Anaheim selected Sennecke at No. 3.

“He had a special night tonight,” said Ducks coach Joel Quenneville. “He is one of these kids that’s grown as the season’s gone along.”

“Has the puck a lot, likes to keep it, sometimes a little bit too long, but at the same time, he can make high-end plays. Play recognition is high-end, as well.”

All three goals came on perfectly placed hard shots.

The first two, which tied it 2-2 in the second period after the Ducks fell behind 2-0 less than eight minutes into the game, came after slick passing sequences with linemates Mikael Granlund and Alex Killorn.

The winning goal came on a two-on-one in which Sennecke opted to keep the puck and wire a shot inside the goalpost on Dustin Wolf’s glove side.

“It was just like a broken play and then I noticed that they had an extra forward caught down low,” said Sennecke. “I just tried to get my speed up, and then their D took the pass away, so I just decided to shoot it.”

Quenneville says there are a few ingredients that go into the 6-foot-3 right-winger’s shooting ability.

“His patience with the puck is part of it as well,” said Quenneville. “He’s got a real long reach, and his deceptiveness sustaining pucks when it looks like he’s out of the play is part of that. But his release is part of that shot.”

It’s a shot that Lukas Dostal faces all the time in practice and relishes it.

“We always have a good competition,” said a smiling Dostal, who had 32 saves to win his sixth game in a row. “But he’s a hell of a player, has a hell of a shot. I don’t think people even know it, but for being that young, to have a hard shot like that, it’s very impressive.”

Dostal has also been providing Sennecke with some tips along the way.

“I like to shoot high, but in practice, he always tells me to start shooting lower and tonight I did,” said Sennecke.

With his first 27 road games all coming in the U.S., Sennecke’s finally getting a chance to showcase himself north of the border and it will happen a lot more through the end of the season.

After Monday’s game in Edmonton, the Ducks travel to Vancouver. In mid-March, Anaheim has a four-game trip to Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. Then in late March, it’s back to Western Canada again for another three games.

“He’s got an extremely bright future and we’d like to see him continue to improve off of these levels, which would put us in a really good position,” added the Ducks’ bench boss.

In fact, he’s already got Anaheim in good position. Their league-leading seventh multi-goal comeback win of the season has them within one point of the second-place Oilers in the Pacific Division.

“I wasn’t here last year, but from what I hear, it wasn’t the most fun. A couple tough losing streaks,” said Sennecke. “It’s definitely fun to be on a winning team this year, the guys seem to be loving it, and I’m loving it.”

Reaching the 40-point mark in 52 games makes Sennecke the third-fastest rookie in franchise history to hit that milestone in a season, behind Bobby Ryan (46 games in 2008-09) and Trevor Zegras (50 games in 2021-22).

Three days shy of his 20th birthday, he’s also the fourth rookie in Ducks history to record a hat trick and second youngest behind Leo Carlsson.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 26, 2026.

Darren Haynes, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

Sennecke nets hat trick in first NHL game in Canada as Ducks edge Flames 4-3 in OT

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