Ducks at Minnesota Wild Tonight
By Omar Zaman
UPDATE (3:02 pm): Here are tonight’s line combinations
FORWARDS
Bobby Ryan – Ryan Getzlaf – Corey Perry
Joffrey Lupul – Saku Koivu – Teemu Selanne
Todd Marchant – Andrew Ebbett – Mike Brown
Evgeny Artyukhin – Ryan Carter – George Parros
DEFENSE
Scott Niedermayer – Luca Sbisa
Ryan Whitney – James Wisniewski
GOALIES
J.S. Giguere (starting) – Jonas Hiller
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We all know that Coach Randy Carlyle likes to keep his lineup a secret up to game time, but it’s pretty clear that there will be some changes. Goalie J.S. Giguere will probably get the start and forward Andrew Ebbett and defenceman Nick Boynton will also get their first action of the regular season. Petteri Nokelainen will probably sit out again due to his groin injury.
From John McGourty at NHL.com:
DUCKS (0-1-0) at WILD (0-1-0)
Season series: The Ducks and Wild split their four games last season, each team winning once in the other’s building. Anaheim’s Corey Perry had three goals and Bobby Ryanhad two goals in four games, while Minnesota’s Niklas Backstrom won twice in net. Andrew Brunette scored twice for Minnesota, as did the now-departed Stephane Veilleux.
Big Story: A highly-motivated San Jose Sharks team that had been eliminated from last season’s playoffs by the Ducks and embarrassed by the Avalanche in their season opener beat the Ducks in Anaheim, 4-1, Saturday. The line of Perry, Ryan and Ryan Getzlaf was minus-8. The Ducks went more than 20 minutes without a shot at one point. Minnesota, on the other hand, played fairly well in a 2-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets in its first game for coach Todd Richards and GM Chuck Fletcher. Pierre-Marc Bouchard is returning from years playing wing to center the second line. He struggled Saturday.
Team Scope:
Wild:The frustrating Marian Gaborik era is over. The Wild is learning a new system under Richards, one that emphasizes more speed and offensive attack, after years of Jacques Lemaire’s tight defensive style. It will probably take a little time, but the Wild has a lot of young players who should welcome the opportunity to show the skills that got them to the NHL.
Ducks:They have benefitted in recent seasons from the downturn of the Los Angeles Kings and Phoenix Coyotes, but those teams are expected to be much better this season. Points will come harder in the Pacific Division. The fans really turned on the Ducks, booing them hard from the first period on in the Sharks’ game. The Ducks have to overcome the departures of traded Chris Pronger and free-agent Francois Beauchemin from the defense.
Who’s Hot:Backstrom had the third-best goals-against average last season, 2.33, and his .923 save percentage was fourth-best. He’s probably the Wild’s best player and they’ll be counting on him as they make their transition to a more offensively oriented team. The Ducks are still looking to catch fire, but here’s a chance to see Saku Koivu centering for countryman and friend Teemu Selanne. They have a history of working well together on Finnish national teams.
Injury Report: Ducks center Petteri Nokelainenis day-to-day with an abdominal injury. For the Wild, left winger Derek Boogaard is out indefinitely with a concussion and center/left winger Benoit Pouliot is sidelined indefinitely with a groin injury.
Stat Pack: The Wild was the NHL’s second-best defensive team a year ago, allowing only 2.4 goals per game, but were outscored in five-on-five play. That’s why they have new coaching, to get more offense out a team they hope will remember its defensive skills. Anaheim was the ninth-best team in five-on-five play, fifth-best on the power play and 23rd in penalty killing. The Ducks must avoid penalties or get better killing them.
Puck Drop:Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said “the mistakes we made from our standpoint were very easily correctable.” So he’s not pushing the panic button. The Wild’s Cal Clutterbuck had only one hit, after leading the NHL with 356 last season, 4.6 hits per game.