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This is the second meeting between the Vancouver Canucks and the Anaheim Ducks. However, this is the first time the visiting team gets to play against early Hart consideration, Ryan Getzlaf. Further to that, the Ducks have less injuries plaguing the team overall now than the earlier meeting in November – this should be a much better contest from the Anaheim side.
The Ducks are coming off a win against the Edmonton Oilers. It was not the prettiest game for the team’s top players, but it was a strong all-around effort by everyone else. After trailing twice, Ben Lovejoy scored twice in the first to put the game away the rest of the way. But the effort in the first period against the Oil was poor, and a similar showing by this team against the Canucks would be harder to overcome.
The Canucks play the Los Angeles Kings Saturday. This post is due to the site before that game figures to end, but Vancouver has a record of 23-12-7 going into the night. The Kings have lost five straight, and the two teams have a current feud dating back to 2010. Perhaps the Nucks are more spent after the meeting when coming down south to play in Anaheim a night later.
Keys to the Game: The Canucks are a strong possession team. They will bring it against the Ducks in the same way the Kings and Sharks do, wave after wave of high pressure attack. The Patos will have to be patient, make simple and effective plays to back off the Nucks forechecking and create opportunities against. Sloppy play will make for a tense evening, so hopefully the entire roster shows up ready to play in this one.
What Can We Learn From this Game: This is the first meeting between these teams with Anaheim’s full(er) roster. Hopefully the game will be more evenly matched than the previous one due to it. Even though the Ducks won that game, it wasn’t pretty. I want to see how this roster stacks up against the tougher teams in the league.
Fearless Prediction: The Honda Center’s electricity goes out again, and Boudreau and Tortorella have an arm wrestling match to decide the winner.
Stay tuned here for updates throughout the day (lineup news, etc.) and start commenting. We'll have a quick stats pack shortly before puck drop for the in-game comments to flow.