Anaheim Ducks 3 Things To Keep An Eye On Tonight

The Anaheim Ducks are set to take on the Colorado Avalanche tonight at Honda Center in what will be the Ducks fifth preseason game.

The two teams squared off to open up the preseason and Colorado took the win on an Alex Tanguay 3-on-3 overtime goal.

Tonight’s game will have a different feel however.

The majority of the Ducks everyday players did not make the trip to Colorado for the preseason opener but a number of them are expected to be in the lineup tonight, including Carl Hagelin who will make his preseason debut.

Regardless of the score at the end of regulation, tonight’s game will feature 3-on-3 overtime action as another “test run” that the NHL suggested for each team during preseason.

With that, here are 3 things to look for from the Anaheim Ducks in tonight’s game.

Getzlaf and Perry split

Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry will begin tonight’s game playing on different lines. Getzlaf will play in between Hagelin and Chris Stewart while Perry remains on the Rickard Rakell, Jiri Sekac line.

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Earlier I offered up a take on why Boudreau should split up Getzlaf and Perry to begin the regular season. That train of thought stems from the emergence of Rickard Rakell and the possibility of the Ducks creating matchup nightmares for opposing coaches.

Keep a close eye on how Getzlaf meshes with Hagelin and Stewart tonight and also continue to watch how Rakell and Perry play together. That duo dominated Monday night against the Kings.

Another strong performance from the Rakell, Perry and Sekac line could really force Boudreau to heavily consider a Getzlaf-Perry split to begin the regular season.

Josh Manson, Chris Wagner and Nick Ritchie

Manson, Wagner and Ritchie survived the Ducks big roster cut that saw 23 players booted from the big club. They also survived another smaller cut that occurred today and saw Max Friberg, Michael Sgarbossa, Ondrej Kase and Matt Hackett assigned to AHL San Diego.

Keep a close eye on Manson, Wagner and Ritchie tonight.

Manson looks to be paired with Fowler while Ritchie and Wagner should be playing on a line with Mike Santorelli.

Manson has been incredibly impressive this preseason and his best performance came against the Kings Monday night. After Milan Lucic buried Chris Wagner with a big hit in the corner, Manson stood up for his teammate and challenged Milan Lucic to a heavyweight slugfest.

Manson held his own to say the least and beyond that he made a number of great plays throughout the game.

He’s making a statement and it is clear his ambitions are to begin the year in Anaheim, not San Diego.

Anaheim Ducks /

Anaheim Ducks

Ritchie and Wagner continue to play well. Both have the skill to jump to the NHL but it is their physical play that has separated them from the Ducks prospects that have already been assigned to San Diego.

Again, it would be a positive for either to get on the scoresheet tonight, but pay attention to how they deal with the little things.

Watch how each deals with trying to win puck battles along the boards and in the corners. See if either makes a mistake in the defensive zone or if they play smart hockey.

Wagner absolutely leveled Lucic Monday night and more of that will be expected from both Wagner and Ritchie.

Clayton Stoner and Carl Hagelin

After missing the first part of camp with an injury, Clayton Stoner will make his preseason debut tonight.

He is back with his old friend Sami Vatanen so keep an eye on how the two play together. Keep an eye on how Stoner looks and whether or not that injury appears to still be lingering.

The injury was reported as upper-body so pay attention to how physical Stoner is. Does he bring his usual physical presence or does he appear slow and timid? Those are the things to look for tonight from Clayton Stoner, especially with Josh Manson in the lineup as well, breathing down Stoner’s neck.

Carl Hagelin is also set to make his Ducks debut tonight.

Keep an eye on how he plays with Getzlaf as he could be a big factor in the possible Getzlaf-Perry split.

Hagelin is a quick speedy forward, an Andrew Cogliano with more offensive upside. Don’t be surprised if he is flying around the ice tonight.

Long time Ducks defensemen Francois Beauchemin left in free agency to join Colorado so keep an eye on him tonight as well if he is in the Avalanche lineup.

Stay tuned for more preseason updates.

Next: Anaheim Ducks Should Split Getzlaf and Perry

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