"Breakaway" is the third episode of the Disney+ Original Series The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, and the third episode of the series overall. It was released on Disney+ on April 9, 2021.
Synopsis[]
After a humiliating loss in their first game, the Don’t Bothers prepare to play their enemies, the Ducks. Alex is determined to become a real coach. Evan thinks sharpshooter Sofi is their best shot, so recruits her to join his new squad. Cocoa bar worker Winnie gets dumped by her boyfriend and is heartbroken, until Nick, who has a schoolboy crush on her, cheers her up. Bombay helps the Don't Bothers in an unexpected way and finally reveals why he's not the Minnesota Miracle Man he once was.
Plot[]
The Don't Bothers begin their day looking over their last game, examining what went wrong and where there is room for improvement. They are distracted momentarily, however, when Gordon enters looking for Winnie. A brief discussion ensues between the Don't Bothers and Gordon about staff working at the Ice Palace, but the Don't Bothers leave momentarily to practice.
Practicing with their new kit, Alex coaches their first proper session following their loss, but finds the team is easily distracted and cannot concentrate on the practicing. Gordon interrupts the practicing moments later to clean the ice, despite the team being in practice. Alex asks if Gordon can come back later, but he refuses, citing that he must pick up Winnie's duties for the time being.
Realising that they cannot win alone, Evan and Nick attempt to recruit Sofi Hanson-Bhatt, but they find her reluctant to leave the Ducks given their stellar performance history. Nick explains that her approval ratings would increase if she were to join the Don't Bothers, given she would be the best player on the team — a notion which Nick backs up with mathematical models, aka "Moneypuck"- but Sofi is reluctant still. In an effort to charm her, Evan invites her to study with him at a restaurant, but things quickly become awkward when the two are mistaken as a couple. Evan quickly switches the conversation and begins asking her to join the team once more, inviting her to be the captain of the team.
Evan is somewhat successful and manages to convince Sofi to consider his offer, and she takes home one of the Don't Bothers jerseys. When her mom notices the jersey, however, Sofi tries to convince her of the positives changing teams would have on her stats, but her mom is reluctant to believe her and tells her that it is a ridiculous notion.
The following day, Chad arrives at the Ice Palace with flowers for Winnie, but is confronted by Nick at the door. Nick tells Chad that Winnie isn't in a good place but he would be happy to pass on the flowers. When Chad agrees, Nick throws the flowers in the trash, but is confronted by Gordon who witnesses his behavior. Gordon tells Nick to give the flowers to Winnie, given he is having to pick up her slack due to her low mood. Nick is reluctant, but does as he is told and delivers the flowers from Chad.
As the Don't Bothers prepare to go up against the Mighty Ducks, they find themselves being badly beaten once again, with Sofi scoring many goals. When there seems to be no hope, and the Ducks are ahead by 17 goals, Alex finds a play written down in her notebook, presumably left by none other than Gordon Bombay. Alex tells the team to play the strategy, and Evan is successful in scoring the first goal ever for the team. As the team cheers at the end of the game, Coach T questions how the Ducks allowed the Don't Bothers to score. With his talk, which is built on painting the Don't Bothers as a pathetic team, Sofi realizes that this is no longer the team she wishes to be on. With this, she tells the Don't Bothers that she will join their team but does not want to be captain — that right belongs to Evan.
After the game, Alex is ecstatic at the win, and goes to thank Gordon for the play he left in her notebook. Gordon denies everything, but Alex begins questioning him about his past, citing that she researched him and knows about his prior experience. Gordon finally admits the truth to Alex about how he was forced to resign for giving money to a child to buy hockey tape. Since then, the Ice Palace is all he has. With this, Alex tells him that the has the team now, and does not need to be alone.
Cast[]
Main cast[]
- Lauren Graham as Alex Morrow
- Brady Noon as Evan Morrow
- Maxwell Simkins as Nick Ganz
- Swayam Bhatia as Sofi Hanson-Bhatt
- Julee Cerda as Stephanie
- Luke Islam as Jaden Koobler
- Bella Higginbotham as Lauren Gibby
- Taegen Burns as Maya Kasper
- Kiefer O'Reilly as Logan LaRue
- De'Jon Watts as Sam
- Emilio Estevez as Gordon Bombay
Guest starring[]
- Dylan Playfair as Coach T
- Em Haine as Winnie Berigan
- Lia Frankland as Mary Joe
- Amy Goodmurphy as Paula Ganz
- Jane Stanton as Sherri Andrews
Co-starring[]
- Hayley Lee as Ruby Reddick
- Antonio Cayonne as Brian Hanson
- Camillia Mahal as Amara Bhatt
- Kasra Wong as Trevor Reddick
- Mark Chavez as Terry
- Nathan Kay as Cocoa Chad
- Kapila Rego as Waitress
- Bradley Turner as Referee
- Aaron Paul Stewart as Tim
