Saturday Night's Lineup
By Omar Zaman
The Ducks lineup for Saturday against the Kings has been announced and is listed below. This lineup is the closest to a regular season roster that we’ve had in the early preseason, with many regulars in the lineup.
FORWARDS
Matt Beleskey – Saku Koivu – Teemu Selanne
Kyle Calder – Andrew Ebbett – Corey Perry
Ryan Donally – Petteri Nokelainen – Shawn Weller
Evgeny Artyukhin – Todd Marchant – George Parros
DEFENSE
Brendan Mikkelson – Sheldon Brookbank
Brett Festerling – Steve McCarthy
GOALTENDERS
The top line of Beleskey-Koivu-Selanne should be a good one tomorrow night, as Beleskey and Koivu have each played with Selanne before. The pairing of Whitney and Eminger should also be a very good tandem as both are experienced and expected to make the team.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Matt Beleskey – Beleskey is being given a chance to be on the top line tonight, and will need to produce if he wants to stay with the big club this season. Beleskey was given the chance to play with Selanne when he was briefly with the Ducks last season so there may be some familiarity with the two.
Jonas Hiller – Everyone knows Hiller is guaranteed a spot on the Ducks barring an injury. But on Saturday he will have the chance to take a firm grasp on the starting role if he turns in a great performance. J.S. Giguere did not play well on Thursday night, so this is an early opportunity for Hiller to stretch his lead.
Evgeny Artyukhin– Big “R2” did not turn in a good performance in his first preseason game. If he wants a spot on this competitive roster, he’ll have to use the speed he has (he’s ridiculously fast for a player his size) and create scoring chances and knock people around. Another lackluster performance may relegate him to the “healthy scratch” list when the regular season begins.