The Hockey News' Derek Lee previews the Ducks' matchup against Utah Hockey Club.
SALT LAKE CITY - The Ducks take on Utah Hockey Club in their home arena for the first time in league history. These two teams faced off against one another at Honda Center in the Ducks' home opener. Leo Carlsson put the final flourish on that game with the overtime winner after the Ducks erased two one-goal deficits.
Anaheim will look to bounce back from their 4-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Dec. 20. Meanwhile, the Utahns have won four games in a row and nine of their last 13. Much of that has been thanks to contributions from Dylan Guenther and Clayton Keller and stellar goaltending from Karel Vejmelka.
With a 3 p.m. local puck drop time, neither team held a morning skate. With John Gibson starting against the Avalanche, the expectation is that Lukáš Dostál will start today against Utah with Gibson starting the second game of the back-to-back (SEGABABA) tomorrow night in Las Vegas. Either way, both Ducks goaltenders will get a start on this short road trip.
“I think (this back-to-back is) a good opportunity for us,” Alex Killorn said after their loss to the Avalanche. “We haven't been to Utah yet. We have our dad's trip, so it's going to be exciting to have all of our family in town. We look forward to it. It's two games before the break. There's two games back to back, so if we get two wins, that would be great.”
Ducks Projected Lines
Frank Vatrano - Ryan Strome - Troy Terry
Brock McGinn - Leo Carlsson - Alex Killorn
Cutter Gauthier - Mason McTavish - Robby Fabbri
Ross Johnston - Isac Lundeström - Jansen Harkins
Jackson LaCombe - Radko Gudas
Olen Zellweger - Jacob Trouba
Pavel Mintyukov - Brian Dumoulin
Lukáš Dostál (projected)
Utah Projected Lines
Clayton Keller - Barrett Hayton - Nick Schmaltz
Jack McBain - Logan Cooley - Dylan Guenther
Matias Maccelli - Nick Bjugstad - Lawson Crouse
Michael Carcone - Kevin Stenlund - Alex Kerfoot
Mikhail Sergachev - Olli Määttä
Ian Cole - Michael Kesselring
Juuso Välimäki - Dakota Mermis
Jaxson Stauber (confirmed)