Game 39: Pittsburgh At Anaheim
Pittsburgh(20-9-5) at Anaheim(19-12-7)
Pregame Show: DucksNPucks Podcast
TV: 7:00 PM PT/10:00 PM ET, Bally Sports West
Radio & Post Game Show: KLAA AM 830
Anaheim Outlook
The Ducks are coming off an exciting 4-3 shootout win over the Detroit Red Wings. Ryan Getzlaf returned to the lineup. Brayden Tracey and Lukas Dostal made their NHL debuts. Anaheim battled Detroit back and forth until a shootout would be necessary to determine a winner. Trevor Zegras and Rickard Rakell scored to give the Ducks the win.
This will be the second and final meeting against the Penguins. The Ducks lost 1-0 to them back on December 11th in a goalie duel. Brock McGinn had the lone goal in the contest.
Anaheim continues to thrive on special teams. The Ducks are 27.5% efficient on the power play, which ranks 4th in the league. Their penalty kill is 85.9% efficient, which is tied for 3rd in the NHL.
Troy Terry leads the team in scoring with 22 goals.
Roster Moves:
Lukas Dostal, Olle Eriksson Ek, Benoit Olivier-Groulx, Vinni Lettieri, Greg Pateryn, Jacob Perreault, Buddy Robinson, and Brayden Tracey were all reassigned to San Diego yesterday.
Eriksson Ek, Lettieri, and Pateryn were recalled to the taxi squad today. Dostal and Robinson were recalled to the Ducks.
Derek Grant was added to the roster yesterday, he will play tonight as he is out of the COVID protocol.
Taxi Squad:
Olle Eriksson Ek
Jacob Larsson
Vinni Lettieri
Greg Pateryn
Injury/COVID News:
Sam Carrick, John Gibson, and Hampus Lindholm were placed in the protocol on January 6th. Lindholm is out of the protocol, but Carrick and Gibson remain in as they are still testing positive according to Head Coach Dallas Eakins.
Josh Mahura remains on the IR with an upper-body injury. He is listed as week-to-week.
Adam Henrique has an lower-body injury and remains on the IR. He has been skating on his own, but the timeline for his return is unknown.
Max Jones had surgery to repair a pectoralis major tendon tear and will be out for 4-6 months.
Projected Lineup
Offense:
Sonny Milano – Ryan Getzlaf – Troy Terry
Max Comtois – Trevor Zegras – Rickard Rakell
Derek Grant – Isac Lundestrom – Jakob Silfverberg
Nicolas Deslauriers – Sam Steel – Buddy Robinson
Defense:
Cam Fowler – Josh Manson
Hampus Lindholm – Jamie Drysdale
Simon Benoit – Kevin Shattenkirk
In Net:
Anthony Stolarz 6-3-1 GAA 2.22 SV% .931 (Confirmed)
Pittsburgh Outlook
The Penguins were on a 10 game winning streak going back to the beginning of December. They just lost to Dallas with past weekend ending their streak. They have gone 9-1-0 in their last 10 games and are currently in 4th place in the Metropolitan Division with 45 points.
Pittsburgh averages 3.26 goals per game, which is tied for 9th in the league. They give up 2.50 goals against on average. On the power play they are 17.5% efficient, which ranks 31st in the league. They are 1st in the league on the penalty kill at 90.4% efficiency.
Evgeni Malkin is a game time decision tonight. He had knee surgery back in June of 2021.
Jake Guentzel leads the team in scoring with 18 goals.
Projected Lineup
Offense
Jake Guentzel – Sidney Crosby – Evan Rodrigues
Jeff Carter – Evgeni Malkin – Kasperi Kapanen
Zach Aston-Reese – Teddy Blueger – Danton Heinen
Kasper Bjorkqvist – Brian Boyle – Dominik Simon
Defense
Brian Dumoulin – Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson – John Marino
Michael Matheson – Chad Ruhwedel
In Net
Tristan Jarry 17-6-4, GAA 1.94, SV% .931 (Confirmed)
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January 11th, 2022