Anaheim Ducks: Pre-Game Puck Drop vs Sharks 10/3/18

The Anaheim Ducks open the 2018-19′ season in San Jose tonight. It’s Game 1 of a grueling 82 game season and a re-match of the first round of last years playoffs. Pucks of a Feather has you covered with all you need to know as the Ducks enter the Shark Tank.

Game 1: Anaheim Ducks v San Jose Sharks

For the first time in what feels like an eternity, Anaheim Ducks hockey is back. And the Ducks will face a stiff test right off the bat. They open the new season in a virtual house of horrors, an arena where it all came crashing down around them last year. But as Rocky says, “It ain’t about how hard you can hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward”. And we here at Pucks of a Feather will have you covered as the Ducks look to move forward in a new season.

Location:

SAP Center San Jose, California/ 730 PST / NBCSN

Projected Ducks Line-Up:

Rakell-Getzlaf-Terry

Comtois-Henrique-Silfverberg

Cogliano-Steel-Aberg

Street-Rowney-Sherwood

Fowler-Manson

Lindholm-Montour

Pettersson-Schenn

Gibson

Miller

Ducks Injuries: Ryan Kesler (Hip), Patrick Eaves (Shoulder/Virus), Corey Perry (Knee), Ondrej Kase (Concussion), Kevin Roy (Wrist/Hand)

Pre-Season:

The Ducks started the Preseason with a thud. Fielding a squad of mainly Ducklings, with some veterans sprinkled in the Ducks looked out of sync most of the time. They had two games against the Sharks, (seems we can’t escape these guys) which were 4-1 and 7-3 losses. The only real bright spot from those games came in the form of continued chemistry between Adam Henrique and Ondrej Kase. Something we will have to wait a while to see as Kase was concussed in the Ducks final pre-season game. The Ducks then traveled to the desert for a game with the Coyotes. This wound up being a 6-1 loss where not much of any positives can be taken.

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Following those three games, the Ducks trimmed their roster and iced a team much more reminiscent to what we should see through the regular season. The Yotes returned the favor making the trip to SoCal where John Gibson looked like himself in his first pre-seaosn game. And Sam Steel scored the highlight reel goal of the pre-season giving the Ducks a big win. The final two pre-season games were against the rival LA Kings. And if anything is to be gleaned from these games it is the Ducks speed plan may work. The Ducks won both games 7-4 and 3-0. In those games players like Steel, Max Comtois, Troy Terry showed they could be impact players and led the Ducks to two big wins.

Pre-season is hard to put stock into. Mainly because the young guys are trying to impress while the veterans are looking to stay healthy. But the final game against the Kings featured much of each team’s regular season rosters. So that win could be looked at with a slightly higher stock. If there’s one positive and one negative from the pre-season its this. Positive: The kids can play and could lead the Ducks to great things in the here and future. Negative: Ryan Miller looked shaky at best in his pre-season action. And while a goalie like him certainly has a hard time getting up for pre-season games it is something to monitor.

Game Time

The Ducks enter the season with perhaps more questions than answers. Yes, Gibson and the D-core should be great. Ryan Getzlaf and Rickard Rakell should lead this team offensively and it will be nice to have them both healthy. But the certainties stop there. How will the kids perform when the games matter? Will Adam Henrique succeed with his increased role and responsibility? How long before Ryan Kesler and Patrick Eaves are back in the line-up?

The Ducks have the advantage of not much but pre-season tape on the kids but the games also pick up in intensity when they arent for practice. But we will get all these answers and then some as the puck drops on the Ducks season tonight. It’s Getzlaf and Kids vs an experienced Shark team that added All-Star defenseman Erik Karlsson just a few weeks ago. Starting the Pacific Division slate of games off with a good one and we will have you covered puck drop to final buzzer every night here at Pucks of a Feather.

Follow us on Twitter with up to the minute updates of the games and check back after as we post our “What we learned Series” following each game.