The Anaheim Ducks emerge from the All-Star break atop the NHL with 68 points. They travel to British Columbia for a two-game West Coast road-trip, starting with their fourth meeting against the Vancouver Canucks. The Ducks entered the All-Star break with a five-game winning streak, tied for the longest streak in the league with the Detroit Red Wings and Winnipeg Jets. The Canucks, meanwhile, begin a six-game homestand against the Ducks.
For the Ducks, Tim Jackman will remain in, while Devante Smith-Pelly remains out of the lineup. Smith-Pelly has been held without a goal in his past 18 games, and he only has five assists in that time. Patrick Maroon had a monstrous stretch of hockey in his final three games before the break, scoring two goals and five point on the top line after scoring two goals in his first 36 games of the season. Ryan Kesler, who scored an empty-net goal against Calgary on the 21st, had been held pointless in six consecutive games before then. Kesler is third on the team in scoring, with 30 points. He is fourth on the team in goals.
According to Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register, here are the expected lineups for both teams tonight.
Anaheim Ducks Forward Lines:
Maroon – Ryan Getzlaf – Corey Perry
Matt Beleskey – Kesler – Kyle Palmieri
Andrew Cogliano – Rickard Rakell – Jakob Silfverberg
Rene Bourque – Nate Thompson – Jackman
On the Ducks’ defense, Clayton Stoner returns to the lineup after missing the game against Calgary with a lower-body injury. Eric Brewer is still not ready for game action, but is improving. Since Stoner is coming in, Colby Robak will come out. Robak recorded his first point with the Ducks in 14:41 of ice time. Ben Lovejoy scored his first goal of the season against the Flames as well and recorded his second multi-point effort of the season (he assisted on both goals in a 6-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators).
Anaheim Ducks Defense Pairings:
Cam Fowler – Lovejoy
Hampus Lindholm – Francois Beauchemin
Stoner – Sami Vatanen
For the Canucks, their three-game winning streak was snapped before the All-Star Break in a 4-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Daniel Sedin leads the Canucks in scoring (39 points) and assists (30), while his twin brother Henrik Sedin is just behind with 29 assists and 38 points. Radim Vrbata, named the Canucks’ All-Star representative this season, has a team-leading 18 goals on the top line with the Sedins. Nick Bonino, who was part of the package sent to the Canucks in the Kesler deal, has 10 goals and 24 points this season.
Vancouver Canucks Forward Lines:
Sedin – Sedin – Vrbata
Shawn Matthias – Bonino – Zack Kassian
Chris Higgins – Linden Vey – Alexandre Burrows
Derek Dorsett – Bo Horvat – Jannik Hansen
On the Canucks defense, they were dealt a major blow by losing Kevin Bieksa to a broken hand for six to eight weeks. Bieksa was second on the team in ice time per game, at 21:16 per game, and he had three goals and nine points on the season. Alexander Edler leads the team in goals (six), assists (12), and points (18) from the blue-line, while playing a team-leading 24:20 per game. Luca Sbisa, the other roster player sent to the Canucks in the Kesler deal, is a team-worst -11 this season.
Vancouver Canucks Defense Pairings:
Edler – Chris Tanev
Dan Hamhuis – Frank Corrado
Sbisa – Yannick Weber
In net, Frederik Andersen (26-6-5, 2.30 GAA, .917 SV%) gets the start. He spent the All-Star break recuperating from a bout of flu he was fighting during the game against the Flames on Wednesday. Opposing Andersen will be Ryan Miller (23-10-1, 2.30 GAA, .918 SV%), who took the loss against the Lightning last Tuesday, allowing three goals on 25 shots in the 4-1 loss.