The Hockey News' Derek Lee previews the Ducks' matchup against the Utah Mammoth.
December has arrived and the Ducks are looking to make it two wins in as many games. They are coming off a 4-1 win against the St. Louis Blues on Monday and are facing the Utah Mammoth for the second time this season. The first matchup on Nov. 17 was a 3-2 overtime victory for the Ducks. The Mammoth are coming off 6-3 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Monday. They have lost nine out of 16 games since the start of November.
“There’s some parts of our game that we liked a lot,” Ducks head coach Joel Quenneville said. “We maneuvered our penalty killing around a little bit. We didn't like the fact that they got so much exposure at it, but they thought we did a good job of it. That was one thing we liked. I thought we were a little bit more clean in the middle of the ice. I thought we were very generous of what we gave Chicago. Last game, we were more effective and more efficient through the middle of ice and in our own end.”
Ryan Strome will be a healthy scratch for a second consecutive game after missing out on Monday’s game. Anaheim will roll out the same exact lineup from last game, with defenseman Ian Moore slotting in on the fourth line.
“(Ryan Poehling) came back in our lineup and really helped us down in the middle with some speed and we were looking for pace,” Quenneville said. “At the same time, it's a tough situation, scratching guys like that, it's not easy. At the same time, we had a good conversation. Keep yourself ready in knowing that we do have some depth in the middle and push, push.”
“It’s a little different,” Moore said of playing forward as a defenseman. “I did it before in Chicago the first time. It’s a different position, but mindset's kind of the same. You’re still playing the same system, kind of seeing the game a little different as a forward. Just trying to rely on my teammates and bounce ideas off them. At the end of the day, trust my instincts, skate hard and just always make sure I'm playing a reliable game up front.”
“We used him in the front and in the back,” Quenneville said. “He looks like he's a forward when he plays forward, looks like a defenseman when he plays defense. I think his intelligence probably puts him in a position where it's tough to keep him out of the lineup. You use him up front killing and you use him on the backend killing, too. So, that speaks a lot of how he sees the game. He does a lot of good things. He's got some size, got some skill and sees plays.”
Ville Husso starts again for Anaheim and will be the starter for the foreseeable future with Lukáš Dostál and Petr Mrázek both out with injuries. Quenneville said that Mrázek’s timeline is two to three weeks. Dostál took the ice before morning skate, but left after it began. His timeline is also two to three weeks, retroactive to Nov. 26.
Mikael Granlund (lower-body) participated in morning skate and could be an option for either the tail-end of the current homestand or the beginning the next road trip, per Quenneville.
Ducks Projected Lines
Chris Kreider - Leo Carlsson - Troy Terry
Cutter Gauthier - Mason McTavish - Beckett Sennecke
Frank Vatrano - Ryan Poehling - Alex Killorn
Ross Johnston - Jansen Harkins - Ian Moore
Jackson LaCombe - Drew Helleson
Olen Zellweger - Jacob Trouba
Pavel Mintyukov - Radko Gudas
Ville Husso (confirmed)
Mammoth Projected Lines
Clayton Keller - Nick Schmaltz - JJ Peterka
Dylan Guenther - Logan Cooley - Daniil But
Michael Carcone - Jack McBain - Lawson Crouse
Liam O’Brien - Kevin Stenlund - Kailer Yamamoto
Mikhail Sergachev - John Marino
Nate Schmidt - Sean Durzi
Ian Cole - Maveric Lamoureux
Karel Vejmelka (projected)