The Hockey News' Derek Lee previews the Ducks' matchup against the Vancouver Canucks.
After three days off, the Ducks return to play against the Vancouver Canucks. They are coming off a thrilling 4-3 overtime win on Saturday against the Vegas Golden Knights.
“I thought (Saturday) was a pretty good game, Olen Zellweger said. “ I thought we just played well all night. Playing in a tight game. I don't think that affected us, which was good. We were steady the whole way, we never got impatient. A mature game, I thought. We played a really good all night. We’ve got to build off that tonight.”
“I like the way we competed,” Ducks head coach Joel Quenneville said. “I thought our start was ordinary, like a lot of the games this year, and I thought that we bounced back in that game. When the game was on the line in the third, I thought we played really smart hockey. We did a good job in the overtime period. It was a very competitive game, like the game we saw in Vegas. And it was a meaningful game, too, so I liked the response when the game was on the line.”
The Canucks are currently on a three-game losing streak and have lost six of their last seven games. They are coming off a 5-2 loss to the Calgary Flames on Sunday.
“They’ve got some skill,” Quenneville said. “They’ve got some injuries they're dealing with. At the same time, when I look at the league and the games, all of a sudden, teams look like they're falling out and win three in a row, and everybody's in the mix. So you can't discount anybody, and you’ve got to be ready each and every night. (This was the) first time we've had three days off in a long time. It'll be an interesting response for us, knowing that our starts have been concerning us some nights, but I think that we want to make sure that we get off to a good beginning here.”
“We want to really be moving the puck a lot,” Zellweger said. “They're going to be competitive. I think they play a hard-nosed game, too, so being efficient with the puck, getting up ice, joining the play when we can (is key).”
Beckett Sennecke Is More Than A Manchild
Goaltender Lukáš Dostál is day-to-day with an upper-body injury, which means Petr Mrázek will start against the Canucks. Ville Husso has been recalled from AHL San Diego in a corresponding move.
Goaltender Kevin Lankinen did not travel with the Canucks due to a personal matter, which now leaves the Canucks without their No. 1 and No. 2 goaltenders. Thatcher Demko is currently on injured reserve with a lower-body injury, though he did travel with the team.
Ducks Projected Lines
Cutter Gauthier - Leo Carlsson - Beckett Sennecke
Chris Kreider - Mason McTavish - Troy Terry
Frank Vatrano - Ryan Strome - Alex Killorn
Ross Johnston - Jansen Harkins - Nikita Nesterenko
Jackson LaCombe - Drew Helleson
Olen Zellweger - Jacob Trouba
Pavel Mintyukov - Radko Gudas
Petr Mrázek (confirmed)
Canucks Projected Lines
Evander Kane - Elias Pettersson - Jake DeBrusk
Brock Boeser - David Kämpf - Conor Garland
Drew O'Connor - Aatu Räty - Kiefer Sherwood
Arshdeep Bains - Max Sasson - Linus Karlsson
Quinn Hughes - Filip Hronek
Elias Nils Pettersson - Tyler Myers
Marcus Pettersson - Tom Willander
Nikita Tolopilo (confirmed)