Ducks vs. Blackhawks PREVIEW/GAMETHREAD: The One With Getzlaf’s 1000th

It all began on opening night. October 5th, 2005. A 20-year-old Ryan Getzlaf and his full head of hair made his NHL debut against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center. It’s only fitting that Getzlaf, now the franchise’s career leader in assists and approaching Teemu Selanne’s lead in points, plays his 1,000th career NHL game tonight against the very team he began his career against.

When the puck drops tonight, Getzlaf will become the eighth active player and the 53rd all time to play 1,000 games with the same team. Not only that, his 1,000th game comes on the same night the Ducks will play their 2,000th game as a franchise. The captain has been with the team for half its life, and has been one of its most important players for every single one of those games.

Getzlaf’s entire family will be in the building, likely along with several of Getzlaf’s closest friends and former teammates throughout the years. A pregame ceremony will pre-empt puck drop before the tilt against Chicago begins.

The Blackhawks have not taken the step forward many thought they would take with some of the high-end talent still on the roster. With a record of 3-6-3, the days of the dynasty Blackhawks are long gone as they continue with their rebuild.

One of the bright spots for Chicago this season has been goaltender Robin Lehner. Lehner is currently rocking a .938 sv% and a 4.66 GSAx (goals saved above expected), ranking 5th in the league. With Corey Crawford playing last night, Lehner should get the start in net against the Ducks.

The rivalry might not be as intense as it was in years past with Ryan Kesler not available to get under the skin of Jonathan Toews, but with players like Patrick Kane, Alex DeBrincat, Adam Boqvist, and 2019 third overall pick Kirby Dach in the lineup, this game should give fans plenty of entertainment. Even with Chicago coming off an overtime loss to the Los Angeles Kings last night.

This matchup should give the Ducks a great opportunity to get back to a more fundamentally sound game. Despite winning their last two, they were outplayed for much of that time. That kind of play is not sustainable, so having an easier opponent could allow Anaheim to start shooting again.

With the news of Max Jones being sent down to the San Diego Gulls yesterday, all signs point towards Ondrej Kase returning to the lineup after missing the last four games due to a jaw injury sustained in a collision against the Dallas Stars. Fortunately, Kase passed concussion protocol, and only had to record from the jaw issues instead of a career-threatening fourth head injury.

Projected Lineups

Anaheim

Max Comtois - Ryan Getzlaf - Ondrej Kase

Rickard Rakell - Adam Henrique - Jakob Silfverberg

Nick Ritchie - Sam Steel - Troy Terry

Devin Shore - Derek Grant - Carter Rowney

Hampus Lindholm - Erik Gudbranson

Michael Del Zotto - Cam Fowler

Josh Mahura - Korbinian Holzer

John Gibson

Chicago

Brandon Saad — Jonathan Toews — Alex Nylander

Alex DeBrincat — Ryan Carpenter — Dylan Strome

Dominik Kubalik — David Kampf — Patrick Kane

Drake Caggiula — Kirby Dach — Andrew Shaw

Duncan Keith — Adam Boqvist

Calvin de Haan — Brent Seabrook

Erik Gustafsson — Olli Maatta

Robin Lehner