Game 25: Anaheim At Colorado

Anaheim(6-12-6) at Colorado(13-7-1)

Pregame Show: DucksNPucks Podcast

TV: 5:00 PM PT/8:00 PM ET, Fox Sports West

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Anaheim Outlook

The Ducks faced the Avalanche last night and things started out well for Anaheim. The Ducks built a 2-0 lead, but then the Avs were able to rally and tie up the game to force overtime. In the extra session, Colorado completed the comeback with a goal by Valeri Nichushkin. The Ducks losing streak has now hit nine games.

Anaheim went with a seven defensemen lineup last night, which they rarely do. It will be interesting to see if Dallas Eakins goes with a similar lineup in tonight’s contest.

Zegras has looked good so far and finally earned an NHL point, but many question Dallas Eakins’ ice management of him and some of his other lineup choices. For more discussion on that visit: Zegras Era Begins?

Poor starts, inconsistent play, and scoring have been issues for the Ducks this season. The Ducks average 2.04 goals a game, which ranks last in the league. They give up 2.91 against per game, which is 17th in the NHL. The power play is only 10.9% efficient, which ranks 29th in the NHL. The penalty kill is ranked 11th in the league at 81.0%.

The most telling stat is Anaheim is 0-12-6 when their opponents score two or more goals.

Max Comtois leads the team in scoring with nine goals.

Team News:

Brendan Guhle was placed on waivers yesterday morning and he cleared them today. He played with the Gulls last night.

David Backes was reassigned to the taxi squad.

Injury Updates

Josh Manson was activated off the IR last night and played as the 7th defensemen.

Hampus Lindholm(wrist) will be out on the IR for about 6 weeks with a fractured wrist. Sonny Milano (undisclosed) and Carter Rowney(lower body) are also on the IR.

Taxi Squad:

David Backes
Jamie Drysdale
Chase De Leo
Vinni Lettieri
Anthony Stolarz
Andy Welinski

Projected Lineup

Offense:
Max Comtois – Ryan Getzlaf – Troy Terry
Danton Heinen  – Isac Lundestrom – Rickard Rakell
Max Jones – Adam Henrique – Jakob Silfverberg
Derek Grant – Sam Steel

Defense:
Cam Fowler – Jani Hakanpaa
Josh Mahura – Kevin Shattenkirk
Ben Hutton – Jacob Larsson
Josh Manson

In Net:
Ryan Miller 1-2-1 GAA 2.98, SV% .894 (Confirmed)

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Colorado Avalanche 

The Avalanche are in a battle for the top spot in the West Division. They are currently tied with the Minnesota Wild at 3rd place with 27 points. Colorado got down by two last night, but were able to rally and win in OT 3-2 over the Ducks.

The Avalanche average 3.05 goals per game, which ranks 14th in the league. They give up 2.40 goals against per game, which ranks them as 5th in the NHL. Their power play is ranked 12th at 24.1% efficiency. The penalty is 88.9% efficient, which is tied for best in the NHL.

Mikko Rantanen leads the team in scoring with 10 goals.

Projected Lineup 

Offense
Gabriel Landeskog – Nathan MacKinnon – Mikko Rantanen
Brandon Saad – Nazem Kadri – Andre Burakovsky
Valeri Nichushkin – J.T. Compher – Joonas Donskoi
Tyson Jost – Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – Logan O’Connor

Defense
Ryan Graves – Samuel Girard
Devon Toews – Jacob MacDonald
Dan Renouf – Conor Timmins

Goalie
Hunter Miska 1-1-1, GAA 3.02, SV% .883 (Unconfirmed)

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March 6th, 2021