Game 3: Ducks vs Flames

By Michael Walters

The Anaheim Ducks(1-0-1) continue their homestand against the Calgary Flames(1-1-0). The Anaheim Ducks have won 29 straight home games(regular season & playoffs) against the Flames dating back to the 2006 playoffs. The Ducks have also won 25 straight regular-season home games against the Flames.

Anaheim Outlook:

The Anaheim Ducks continue to be plagued by injuries with Nick Ritchie as the latest player to add to the list. He was unable to play in the Ducks 3-2 OT loss to Philadelphia on Saturday night. The Ducks currently have $30 million worth of injured players out of the lineup. The good news is Ryan Getzlaf, Patrick Eaves, Nick Ritchie, Sami Vatanen, and Hampus Lindholm all skated at practice yesterday. It appears that Getzlaf may have a chance to play tonight. Lindholm and Vatanen are progressing well and could beat their projected November 1st return date.

Keys To The Game

The Ducks are having difficulty sustaining offensive pressure on a consistent basis. They have had to rally in each of their first two games and were still able to manage three out of a possible four points. If the Ducks can get the offense going early and score first, then they have a good chance at earning two points tonight. Anaheim also needs to get the power play going as they have yet to score with the man advantage.

Anaheim’s Projected Lineup:

Offense
Andrew Cogliano – Rickard Rakell – Corey Perry
Ondrej Kase – Antoine Vermette – Jakob Silfverberg
Chris Wagner – Dennis Rasmussen – Logan Shaw
Giovanni Fiore – Derek Grant – Jared Boll

Calgary Outlook:

The Flames come into this game looking to break Anaheim’s home winning streak that’s plagued Calgary for over a decade. Calgary dropped their season opener getting blanked 3-0 by Edmonton. They rebounded in their second game dropping Winnipeg 6-3. T.J. Brodie is currently leading the team with two goals and four total points. Johnny Gaudreau has one goal and four total points. Jaromir Jagr signed a one year contract with the Flames. He hasn’t played yet but could make his Calgary debut tonight.

Keys To The Game

Calgary will look to work the puck in deep on Anaheim and try to draw penalties. They were able to get six power plays against Winnipeg and cashed in on two of them. They also dropped 45 shots on goal in that game and will need to do the same against John Gibson(assuming he starts) tonight.

Calgary’s Projected Lineup:

Offense
Johnny Gaudreau – Sean Monahan – Micheal Ferland
Matthew Tkachuk – Mikael Backlund – Michael Frolik
Kris Versteeg – Sam Bennett – Curtis Lazar
Tanner Glass – Matt Stajan – Troy Brouwer

Defense
Mark Giordano – Dougie Hamilton
T.J. Brodie – Travis Hamonic
Matt Bartkowski – Michael Stone

In Net
Mike Smith, 1-1-0, GAA 2.52, SV% .931 (Unconfirmed)

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October 9th, 2017

Filed under: Ducks News Tagged: Anaheim Ducks, calgary flames, ducksnpucks