Anaheim Ducks Vs. San Jose Sharks Pre-Game Notes
The Anaheim Ducks are back in action tonight against the San Jose Sharks, some pre-game notes to consider.
Ducks gameday? Ducks gameday. The Anaheim Ducks are back in action tonight taking on the San Jose Sharks at home in their first game post all-star break.
It’s a big game for the Ducks for a number of reasons. The Sharks currently sit second in the pacific division and the Ducks are just five points back. The Sharks enter tonight as the hottest team in the league, having gone 8-0-2 in their last 10 games. The Ducks are right behind them with a 7-3-0 record in their last 10 games.
Needless to say, the bad blood between these two teams has not vanished and a big two points are on the line tonight in Anaheim.
Whose Hot
Joe Thronton comes into tonight with a 10 game point streak and has 15 points in his last 12 games. 22 year old Tomas Hertl led the Sharks with six goals during the month of January and captain Joe Pavelski put up 11 points in 12 games last month.
Goalie Martin Jones is expected to start tonight and has a 7-2-1 record in his last 10 starts with a .923% save percentage.
For the Ducks, Freddie Andersen will get the start and has a 3-1-1 record in his last five appearances with a .942% save percentage and a 1.59 goals against average over that five game stretch.
After a terrible start to the season, Ducks winger Jakob Silfverberg is on fire lately. Silfverberg had just 6 points through the first 35 games of the season, he has 11 points in his last 11 games.
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Ryan Kesler and Corey Perry led the way in January with 7 goals each, 3 of Kesler’s 7 January goals were scored on the power play. Rickard Rakell had another strong month with 7 points in January and newcomer David Perron has 5 points in 4 games as a Duck.
Hampus Lindholm really led the Ducks blue-line throughout January during Cam Fowler’s absence. Lindholm led the Ducks in ice time in January (23:39 per game) and was sensational in matchup’s against Erik Karlsson and Drew Doughty.
Fowler and Despres Return
Simon Despres missed nearly three and a half months with post concussion issues and played in the Ducks final game before the all-star break, a 6-2 win in Boston.
The Ducks also get Cam Fowler back tonight who sprained his knee in late December. Fowler has been practicing over the past week and a half and the all-star break really gave him extra time to reach 100%.
Other Notes
The NHL announced today that the Ducks will play a makeup game against the Washington Capitals on April 10th. The east coast blizzard canceled the game two Fridays ago and the makeup game will now be the Ducks final game of the regular season.
The Ducks recalled left winger Harry Zolniercyzk today and Ryan Garbutt will now wear number 16, not number 28.
Potential Lineup
Perron – Getzlaf – Stewart
Maroon – Rakell – Perry
Cogliano – Kesler – Silfverberg
Garbutt – Thompson – Santorelli
Fowler – Bieksa
Lindholm – Manson
Despres – Vatanen
Andersen
Gibson
Not much change up front for the Ducks, and why should there be? Coming off a 6-2 win in Boston before the break, Boudreau clearly thinks he has found a way to effectively split up Getzlaf and Perry. Perron has looked really good playing alongside Getzlaf and Rakell is still showing strong chemistry playing with Perry.
With Horcoff suspended, Thompson still patrols the middle of the fourth line. Zolniercyzk likely won’t play but was recalled as the Ducks only had 12 forwards on the active roster.
More from Ducks News
- Who could the Anaheim Ducks consider presenting offer sheets to?
- Is Pierre-Luc Dubois on the cards for the rebuilding Anaheim Ducks?
- Making the case for the Anaheim Ducks to trade with the Edmonton Oilers
- Anaheim Ducks might benefit tremendously by trading John Gibson
- How close are the Anaheim Ducks to becoming contenders again?
It seemed as though Fowler and Despres could be reunited after showing strong chemistry together last season, but that is not the case. It seems Boudreau will elect to keep Fowler with Bieksa, putting Despres with Vatanen. We will see how that goes.
Lindholm and Manson stay together as they should, they’ve been great together and their numbers show that they have played great defensively and had a strong impact on the Ducks top forwards.
Next: Lindholm-Andersen Agent Issue Resolved
These defensive pairings allow each defensemen to play on their strong side and it gives Boudreau an even lefty-righty combo on each pairing.
Raffi Torres
Raffi Torres was suspended 41 games for his hot on Jakob Silfverberg that occurred during the preseason but that suspension has passed. However, Torres was placed on waivers last week and is currently playing in the AHL, so no Ducks players will have to fear for their life tonight.
Looking Ahead
The Ducks take on the Kings Thursday at Staples and then make the quick bus ride home to take on the Coyotes Friday, an important back-to-back scenario.