Preview: Ducks and Sharks Meet Again for Preseason Battle at Honda Center
A live stream of tonight's game will be available on AnaheimDucks.com shortly prior to puck drop.
Anaheim will move past the halfway point of its preseason slate tonight, continuing a busy week of exhibition hockey that will see the Ducks play five games in eight days.
The contest will also mark the final meeting between the Ducks and Sharks of the preseason, the 21st straight year Anaheim and San Jose have faced off in preparation for the regular season. The Sharks won this season's initial matchup Tuesday at SAP Center, racing out to an early lead with two goals in the first four minutes of the game and
holding on for a 5-3 victory
.
The Ducks announced their second round of training camp cuts Thursday,
trimming the club's preseason roster
to 54 players.
Anaheim earned wins in both of its other preseason contests, each over Arizona.
Wednesday's night triumph
came at a disappointing cost though as forward Trevor Zegras left the game in the second period following an open-ice hit by Coyotes forward Jan Jenik and did not return.
"We're sending him for a more in-depth look and hopefully we will have those results by [Friday] morning," head coach Dallas Eakins told reporters Thursday afternoon. "So we're in a holding pattern on that."
Center Isac Lundestrom scored in both of those wins over the Coyotes and, alongside Rocco Grimaldi, co-leads the NHL in preseason scoring (2-2=4). Grimaldi also co-leads the league in assists.
"I'm happy with how it's gone," Grimaldi said of his preseason performance. "I'm looking at the things I'm doing right and trying to continue that, but also the things where I'm making mistakes here and there, trying to clean that up. I'm taking it day-by-day and I'm here to get better. I'm here to learn."
Offseason acquisitions Ryan Strome and Frank Vatrano are in the projected lineup again tonight after making their unofficial Ducks debuts Wednesday. Strome paced Anaheim offensively with two points, including what would become the game-winning goal in the second period, while Vatrano added an assist.
"Preseason is always a little tough to get back into it but it was fun," Strome said. "It's good to get back into that competitive environment...It was a good feeling to be competing against another team and to put that Ducks jersey on for the first time. You want to get these first ones out of the way and get as climatized as you can before the season starts.
Keep moving on and keep getting better."
San Jose visits both Anaheim and Vegas tonight in split-squad battles, looking for a couple of wins to maintain their perfect 3-0-0 preseason record.
The Sharks contigent heading to Orange County includes a couple longtime San Jose stalwarts in Logan Couture and Marc-Edouard Vlasic, two former Ducks in Nick Bonino and Jaycob Megna and a few of the club's most highly-touted prospects, William Eklund and Thomas Bordeleau.
Anaheim's projected roster vs. San Jose:
5 Urho Vaakanainen - D
16
Ryan Strome
- C
19 Troy Terry - RW
28
Nathan Beaulieu
- D
33 Jakob Silfverberg
36 John Gibson - G
38 Derek Grant - C
41 Anthony Stolarz - G
42 Glenn Gawdin - C
43 Drew Helleson - D
44 Max Comtois - LW
45 Colton White - D
47
Noah Warren
- D
49 Max Jones - LW
54 Justin Kirkland - LW
55 Danny O'Regan - C
57 Bryce Kindopp - RW
63 Axel Andersson - D
77
Frank Vatrano
- RW
85 Josh Lopina - C
