GDT: Game 32: Anaheim Ducks vs Calgary Flames, 7pm PT, BSSC

[Leonardo87]

Anaheim Ducks vs Calgary Flames
7pm PT, BSSC

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Flames Projected Line up

Andrew Mangiapane -- Elias Lindholm – Yegor Sharangovich
Connor Zary -- Nazem Kadri -- Martin Pospisil
Jonathan Huberdeau -- Mikael Backlund -- Blake Coleman
A.J. Greer -- Adam Ruzicka -- Dillon Dube

MacKenzie Weegar -- Rasmus Andersson
Noah Hanifin -- Chris Tanev
Dennis Gilbert -- Nick DeSimone

Jacob Markstrom
Dan Vladar

Scratched: Walker Duehr, Jordan Oesterle
Injured: Jakob Pelletier (shoulder), Kevin Rooney (shoulder)


Ducks Projected Line up

Alex Killorn -- Leo Carlsson -- Troy Terry
Frank Vatrano -- Mason McTavish -- Ryan Strome
Max Jones -- Adam Henrique -- Brett Leason
Brock McGinn -- Sam Carrick -- Jakob Silfverberg

Cam Fowler -- Jamie Drysdale
Pavel Mintyukov -- Ilya Lyubushkin
Jackson LaCombe -- Radko Gudas

Lukas Dostal
John Gibson

Scratched: Benoit-Oliver Groulx, Urho Vaakanainen, Ross Johnston, Alex Stalock​

Injured: Isac Lundestrom (Achilles), Trevor Zegras (lower

NHL’s present to Anaheim…

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[GermanRocket7]

At least Drysdale is supposed to be back, but man what a horrible look by our PR department and medical staff to tease us with three returnees some 10 days ago and not having seen either of them in an actual game since.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

Happy Honda Days to all who celebrate.

 

[mightyquack]

At least Drysdale is supposed to be back, but man what a horrible look by our PR department and medical staff to tease us with three returnees some 10 days ago and not having seen either of them in an actual game since.

How is it teasing or a horrible look? They would have been brought on the road trip so they could regularly skate with the team and the staff could evaluate them on a daily basis if they were good to go.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

At least Drysdale is supposed to be back, but man what a horrible look by our PR department and medical staff to tease us with three returnees some 10 days ago and not having seen either of them in an actual game since.

Cronin doesn't want to repeat the mistake of taking players and going from 0 to 100 in nothing flat. ::: cough, Drysdale, cough ::: Being on the ice is and skating is better than the inability to skate. Conflate that with participating in practice and knowing somethings that the team needed re-emphasizing as well as the introduction of new schemes.

Anyhow, we've won two consecutive games without the three Duckateers and D'arLundestrom. That's a huge improvement already!

 

[ScarTroy]

How is it teasing or a horrible look? They would have been brought on the road trip so they could regularly skate with the team and the staff could evaluate them on a daily basis if they were good to go.

I think the caption was what made it a slightly bad look. The “Guess who’s back?” is a little cheesy when all they are doing is skating at practice which they had already been doing anyways.

 

[duckaroosky]

Happy Honda Days to all who celebrate.

 

[Mr Rogers]

Drysdale's return is probably an even bigger deal than Zegs/Mctavish returning for me. There are some guys on the blueline who aren't playing in ideal situations.

 

[Leonardo87]

Drysdale's return is probably an even bigger deal than Zegs/Mctavish returning for me. There are some guys on the blueline who aren't playing in ideal situations.

This.

Leo has helped me cope with no Zegras. But considering how much time Drysdale missed last season, it's important to get him going.

Zegras already has two strong full seasons under his belt. and Mac has not missed that much time to where it's a concern, and he was having a great season before he went down.

Drysdale is a critical piece to this D group, and need him to take the next steps to being potentially one of the Top pairing D's for the future.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Drysdale's return is probably an even bigger deal than Zegs/Mctavish returning for me. There are some guys on the blueline who aren't playing in ideal situations.

Have you seen our forward lineup without Mac and Zegras?! Killorn wasn't ready for top-6 minutes, we had Jones at 1st LW, we have Leason as 2RW, and Strome was our 1C when Carlsson wasn't playing... and Strome sucks at playing center, but good at faceoffs. Now, Strome is playing 3C, which suits him better.

With Drysdale in the lineup to start the season, the Ducks gave up 7 goals in two games.

Game 1: Ducks 1, VGK 4
Game 2: Carolina 3, Ducks 6

Anaheim went on a 6-game winning streak without Drysdale. Zegras fell to injury on the first game after the 6-game winning streak, which was game 12 of the season. Three games afterwards, the Ducks went on an 8-game losing streak. We did not possess enough firepower offensively.

• 1-goal game results
  • Game set 1-15: 7 games = 5-2-0 (10 pts)
  • Game set 16 -31: 8 games = 2-6-0 (4 pts)

In Game set 16-31, we lost to the Blackhawks with a score of 1 - 0. We needed more offensive power.


Our problem is a lack of scoring and Mac is a scoring machine. He's got 21 points in 24 games. After Mac went down to injury, we lost the next five games. Three of those games were of the 1-goal losses, which included the Blackhawks shutting out out 1-0.

With the recent emergence of the vets in Rico and Killorn scoring, the Ducks were able to win two games in a row. Getting Mac back makes us more dangerous with our current D-lineup because Mac is our 1C.

I just think it's foolish to compare value of import when we want all of our players to return b/c each will help us improve. I'd rather have Drysdale on the top line just like I'd rather have Mac at 1C instead of Strome. Hell, I'd take Zegras at 1C over Strome!

 

[Leonardo87]

I just think it's foolish to compare value of import when we want all of our players to return b/c each will help us improve. I'd rather have Drysdale on the top line just like I'd rather have Mac at 1C instead of Strome. Hell, I'd take Zegras at 1C over Strome!

As a Team perspective it's likely more important to get Mac and Z back due to our offensive woes, but as a player perspective, it's critical Drysdale gets back due to how much time he has missed. That is what I was getting at, and it's not foolish, given the potential of Drysdale and how much time he has missed. Like with Mac and Z, I'm not concerned with the time they missed compared to Drysdale. Neither have missed enough time to where there is any real concern.

I mean we need everyone back, or mostly everyone. I would feel better about tonight and Sat, if we can get at least one of Z or Mac back, along with Drysdale.

In the words of Meatloaf, 2 out of 3 ain't bad, lol.

 

[Terry Yake]

so does drysdale's return push lacombe or vaaks out of the lineup? i'd prefer to leave vaaks in

 

[Leonardo87]

so does drysdale's return push lacombe or vaaks out of the lineup? i'd prefer to leave vaaks in

Vaak is likely getting scratched tonight. He skated as an extra,

 

[ScarTroy]

so does drysdale's return push lacombe or vaaks out of the lineup? i'd prefer to leave vaaks in

From practice yesterday Vaaks was the odd one out unfortunately.

 

[Terry Yake]

that's lame. vaaks needs all the run he can get considering how much time he's missed with injuries over the last couple years

 

[Leonardo87]

that's lame. vaaks needs all the run he can get considering how much time he's missed with injuries over the last couple years

I don't like that he is sitting either, especially since the Vaak - Gudas pairing has been very good. LaCombe though looked very solid the last two games, so it's a very tough decision but now LaCombe will be in a better role for him to succeed and skating on his natural side.

 

[Deuce22]

so does drysdale's return push lacombe or vaaks out of the lineup? i'd prefer to leave vaaks in

I think LaCombe offers more upside than Vaaks. Paired with Gudas I think we would see more offensively.

 

[MMC]

 

[Mr Rogers]

Zegras out though per Derek.

 

[ducks8]

Zegras out though per Derek.

Wouldn't shock me if we don't see Zegras until after the new year

 

[Hockey Duckie]

I don't like that he is sitting either, especially since the Vaak - Gudas pairing has been very good. LaCombe though looked very solid the last two games, so it's a very tough decision but now LaCombe will be in a better role for him to succeed and skating on his natural side.

LaCombe has more upside than Vaak and is three years younger. Defensively, the coaching staff prefers LaCombe over Vaak, which is why Vaak got replaced from the top line with LaCombe. Also, people are forgetting LaCombe is a staple on the PK unit.

Many are enamored with Vaak-Gudas, but not realizing Vaak is in a sheltered role. Here are LaCombe's last two games playing with Gudas (Luneau was playing top-pairing with Fowler), Game 25 vs the Avs and Game 26 vs the Blackhawks:

Gm 25

Gm 26

I don't think many are giving LaCombe enough credit for playing up at the top-line as a rookie and disregard what he can do as a pairing with Gudas.

 

[MMC]

 

[MMC]

 

[Rooch]

This team missed McT badly. I hope the return of these two core players will give us some extra juice against Calgary tonight. I hate losing to Calgary.

 

[Leonardo87]