Game 1: Anaheim At Vegas

By Michael Walters

Anaheim(0-0-0) at Vegas(0-0-0)

Pregame Show: DucksNPucks Podcast

TV: 7:00 PM PT/10:00 PM ET, Fox Sports West

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Anaheim Outlook

Finally Ducks hockey is back! The last time the Anaheim Ducks took the ice to play a game was way back in March of 2020.

The Ducks will start the season on the road with two games against the Vegas Golden Knights. Most of the games the Ducks will play will be consecutive contests against the same opponent.

During the long offseason, the Ducks signed Kevin Shattenkirk to a three-year deal. Brining him in solidifies Anaheim’s top four defensemen. Bob Murray tried to acquire him before, but he signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning and won a Stanley Cup with them last season. If the Ducks can make the playoffs this season, then his champion run experience will be beneficial.

The question is who will be Anaheim’s third pairing? Christian Djoos added some spark last season, but was claimed by Detroit off waivers recently. The Ducks will have to turn to Jacob Larsson, Jani Hakanpaa, Kodie Curran, and Andy Welinski.

Offensively the Ducks didn’t really improve their scoring in the offseason. Murray did bring back Derek Grant, which was expected. He should continue to deliver on the fourth line and power play. Anaheim’s offense was a huge concern last season as they scored 182 goals, which was 26th in the league.

In order for the Ducks to succeed offensively, it’s going to take a team effort. Last season Anaheim only had two 20 goals scorers, Adam Henrique(26) and Jakob Silfverberg(21). The next three top scorers were Rickard Rakell(15), Derek Grant(14), and Ryan Getzlaf(13). This has to change this season. Players like Max Comtois, Max Jones, Sonny Milano, Sam Steel, and Troy Terry need to step up.

Lastly, Anaheim will look to improve their special teams play. The power play was operating at 14.7% efficiency, which was 30th in the league. The penalty kill was 77% efficient, which was 26th in the league. If the Ducks want to be a playoff team this season they must find more scoring and improve the special team play or else it will be a long season.

As we discussed on our last podcast, we predict the Ducks will finish 5th in the division. There is a chance they could maybe pull off a 4th place finish, but it won’t be easy. Listen here: Return Of The Ducks.

Team News:

Max Jones was placed on the IR due to a lower body injury according to the Ducks. Anaheim will also start the season with Ryan Kesler(hip) and Brendan Guhle on the LTIR. The Ducks were about $200,000 over the cap, so they put Guhle on the LTIR to get $800,000 in cap relief to bring the team in compliance with the cap.

Jamie Drysdale and Trevor Zegras are currently assigned to the AHL. The San Diego Gulls are playing their games this season at the Great Park Ice in Irvine. Even though they will start with the Gulls, there is still a chance that both of them could appear in a Ducks uniform this season.

The Anaheim taxi squad will consist of the following players David Backes, Max Comtois, Kodi Curran, Vinni Lettieri, Anthony Stolarz, and Andy Welinski. The league created the taxi squad in case a team needed to call up a replacement due to a player being out with COVID or injury. The taxi squad will travel with the team.

Comtois and Curran were added to the Ducks roster today and could play tonight.

Ben Hutton, who was signed to a PTO recently, is still with the team per the Athletic’s Eric Stephens.

Projected Lineup

Offense:
Rickard Rakell – Adam Henrique – Jakob Silfverberg
Isac Lundestrom – Ryan Getzlaf – Danton Heinen
Max Comtois  – Sam Steel – Troy Terry
Nicolas Deslauriers – Derek Grant – Carter Rowney

Defense:
Hampus Lindholm – Kevin Shattenkirk
Cam Fowler – Josh Manson
Jacob Larsson – Jani Hakanpaa

In Net:
John Gibson 0-0-0 GAA 0.00, SV% .000 (Confirmed)

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Vegas Outlook

Last season Vegas was in first place when play was halted. The Golden Knights were 39-24-8. In the playoffs they beat Chicago in five games and then edged Vancouver in seven games. Once they reached the Western Conference Final they faced the Dallas Stars and were knocked out in five games.

The Golden Knights will look to keep the momentum going this season. They averaged 3.15 goals last season(13th in the league) and had the 9th ranked power play at 22.0%. One weakness for them was their penalty kill, which was ranked 27th at 76.6%.

Vegas will start the season with 13 forwards and just five defensemen. The team was going to be over the cap so they had to waive two players. According to Sin Bin Vegas, the team went with defenseman Nick Holden because they thought forward Keegan Kolesar would get claimed off waivers. They also waived Nicolas Hague, who is waiver exempt, in order to be in compliance with the cap.

The Vegas taxi squad will consist of the following players Dylan Coghlan, Oscar Dansk, Nicolas Hague, Nick Holden, Tomas Jurco, and Gage Quinney.

Projected Lineup (per Sin Bin Vegas)

Offense
Jonathan Marchessault – William Karlsson – Reilly Smith
Max Pacioretty – Chandler Stephenson – Mark Stone
Nicolas Roy – Cody Glass – Alex Tuch
William Carrier – Tomas Nosek – Ryan Reaves – Keegan Kolesar

Defense
Brayden McNabb – Alex Pietrangelo
Alec Martinez– Shea Theodore
Zach Whitecloud

Goalie
Robin Lehner 0-0-0, GAA 0.00, SV% .000 (Confirmed)

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January 13th, 2021