The Hockey News’ Derek Lee reports from the Ducks’ morning skate.
In their final preseason home game, the Ducks will get their first look at the Utah Hockey Club. Several Ducks will be playing in their first preseason game.
Nathan Gaucher, Pavel Mintyukov and Beckett Sennecke all missed the beginning of training camp due to lower-body injuries, but all three will be in the lineup tonight. Veterans Cam Fowler and Radko Gudas will also play in their first preseason games.
"It'll be nice to get out there against competition instead of practicing against your own guys, so there's some excitement there," Fowler said. "Try and get my timing back (with) things I see on the ice. That's what preseason is for, so I'm looking forward to it."
Fowler will be paired with Tristan Luneau. They played together briefly last season when Luneau was with the Ducks before his season was cut short due to a staph infection.
"I told him (that) I want us to join the rush offensively and support one another," Fowler said. "Such a big part of the league now is getting offense from your backend and I think Tristan and I can do that as long as we're supporting one another."
"I think Cam was really good last year with the young defensemen and I think he'll continue to mentor these kids along with Brian Dumoulin and Radko (Gudas)," head coach Greg Cronin said. "(Luneau) is a young kid who was out most of the year and just needs experience. I think Cam can share some of that experience from shift to shift with him."
Gaucher will center the fourth line, flanked by gritty forwards Ross Johnston and Brock McGinn. Gaucher was an unused alternate during the rookie faceoff tournament but suffered a lower-body injury during off-ice training just before main camp.
"(I'm) excited because I haven't played a game in a while," Gaucher said. "Just get the nerves and butterflies out. Play my game, prove that I belong here. (We need to) be a heavy line to play against and get some offensive zone time. Just trying to get my feet wet, play some good hockey and communicate with my teammates."
Cronin expects an adjustment period for the players who have yet to get into a preseason game. Fowler and Gudas haven't seen game action since the end of last season while Mintyukov missed the final month of the season due to a bone bruise.
"It's critical that these guys get quality reps in and they get their timing down," Cronin said. "You can practice all you want, but it's friendly fire, right? When you go out against an opposition that's going 100% to win battles and not trying to measure the intensity so that they can avoid injuries and stuff, it's a different game."
"I'm pretty excited to get out there, finally," Sennecke said. "It's been kind of a long recovery for me. I'm going to go out there and have fun, but I'm also trying to prove myself out there, so just going to do my best to control the things that I can control."
"I don't think Beckett's going to be intimidated," Cronin said. "He's got a lot of confidence in him. He's got really good instincts on the ice. He's a young kid and he didn't skate at all because of the foot injury, so he hasn't even been on the ice (for practices) for barely four days. I'm really curious how he plays."
Ducks Projected Lines
Cutter Gauthier - Leo Carlsson - Alex Killorn
Robby Fabbri - Mason McTavish - Beckett Sennecke
Nikita Nesterenko - Jansen Harkins - Sam Colangelo
Ross Johnston - Nathan Gaucher - Brock McGinn
Cam Fowler - Tristan Luneau
Jackson LaCombe - Radko Gudas
Pavel Mintyukov - Brian Dumoulin
Lukáš Dostál (confirmed)
Utah Projected Lines
Dylan Guenther - Logan Cooley - Kailer Yamamoto
Michael Carcone - Josh Doan - Aku Raty
Miloš Kelemen - Jack McBain - Ben McCartney
Liam O'Brien - Andrew Agozzino
Juuso Välimäki - Michael Kesselring
Vlad Kolyachonok - Maveric Lamoureux
Maksymillian Szuber - Robert Bortuzzo
Patrik Koch
Karel Vejmelka - Matt Villalta