Pre-Game Puck Drop: Anaheim Ducks vs NY Islanders

The Anaheim Ducks are back home for a game and then its off for a quick road game in Vegas before returning home. And for the first time this season they welcome a foe from the Eastern Conference. The John Tavares less NY Islanders and new coach Barry Trotz are in SoCal where the Ducks will look to grab their fifth win in the first seven games. We have all you need to know for the Isles before puck drop.

Game 7: Anaheim Ducks vs New York Islanders

The Ducks return home after splitting games on their back to back road trip. A 5-3 loss in Dallas in what was clearly the Ducks worst game played of the season and a bounce-back performance to grab a 3-2 win in St Louis the next night encapsulated the Ducks weekend. The Ducks come in at 4-1-1 while the Islanders currently sit 2-2-0 with wins against the Hurricanes and Sharks and losses to the Predators twice. The Islanders are nothing special sitting with 11 goals for and 10 goals against. The Ducks should be happy to be home and well rested having not played since Sunday and should use that to their advantage to get on the Islanders early.

Location: Honda Center Anaheim, California

Time: 7:00pm PST

TV: FS West

Anaheim Ducks Projected Lineup:

Andrew Cogliano – Ryan Kesler– Rickard Rakell

Max Comtois – Adam Henrique – Troy Terry

Isac Lundestrom – Sam Steel – Kiefer Sherwood

Joe Blandisi – Ben Street – Brian Gibbons

Cam Fowler – Josh Manson

Hampus Lindholm – Brandon Montour

Marcus Pettersson – Luke Schenn

John Gibson

Ryan Miller

Ducks Injuries:

Ryan Getzlaf (Groin), Corey Perry (Knee), Patrick Eaves (Shoulder/Illness), Ondrej Kase (Concussion), Jakob Silfverberg (Hand), Carter Rowney (Upper Body)

Last Game (3-2 W at St. Louis)

The Anaheim Ducks came into St Louis off what was an honestly embarrassing performance the night before in Dallas. They responded and played a solid game on the tail end of back to backs and ground out a 3-2 win. Ryan Miller got the start making some good saves early and rookie phenom Max Comtois hit Jakob Silfverberg streaking through the neutral zone for a breakaway goal. The Ducks looked to be in good shape heading into the second and once again the second-period woes continued.

Though nowhere near as bad as the second period in Dallas the Ducks still surrendered two goals to Alex Steen and Tyler Bozak. These Blues goals came in about a four-minute span of the second period and the game was shifted for the remainder of the period. You can say this constant second-period lull is due to the youth of the Ducks line-up but truthfully this is a coaching issue. The Ducks second-period woes are nothing new and show that Randy Carlyle is not particularly good at intermission adjustments. With that said the Ducks entered the third period in danger of losing both games on the road trip.

However credit must be given where it due and once again as has become the Ducks style over the last few years, they rallied in the third. 4th line grinder Ben Street scored his second goal of the season as he tipped home a Josh Manson blast and Andrew Cogliano scored a rebound goal on the power-play with just over five minutes to play allowing the Ducks to escape with a 3-2 win. Not the prettiest game but it was a hard fought road game that the Ducks rose to the occasion on and took home a win.

Keep the Islanders Marooned

The New York Islanders may have got a new coach fresh off a Stanley Cup Championship but they lost the face of their franchise. John Tavares took his talents north of the border to hometown Toronto and the loss has left a void that cant be filled on Long Island. To this point, Tavares already has 6 goals for the Maple Leafs while the Islanders have just 10 goals as a team.

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They still have good players in Matt Barzal, Jordan Eberle, and Josh Bailey but their defense core and goaltending leave much to be desired. Rolling with a goaltending tandem of Thomas Greiss and Robin Lehner doesn’t seem to have you destined for great things and it could be a rough year on the island.

The Ducks, on the other hand, have a great goaltending duo and the leader of that duo John Gibson has been nothing short of superb to this point. The Ducks though dealing with the injury bug yet again this season have young rookies making big contributions already and scoring has not been a big issue for this club so far. And that is a great sign with only more firepower joining the team soon.

The Islanders aren’t built to come from behind so if the Ducks can jump out to a two or three goal lead they should be in good shape. This doesn’t mean they should sit back but this is a beatable team and a chance for the young Ducks to continue to build their confidence.

The Ducks could be sitting at 5-1-1 after tonight with the likes of Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, and Patrick Eaves all out. This team is good now and has the chance to be great. With the added benefit of flying under the radar this could be one good year. Stay with us on Twitter during the game for live updates and opinion!