Ducks Open 25th Anniversary Season Tomorrow in San Jose

The Ducks begin their 25th Anniversary Season tomorrow vs. the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center (7:30 p.m. PT, NBCSN/AM830). Anaheim owns an all-time record of 909-734-259, including a 516-312-123 home record and a 393-422-136 road mark. Since the start of the 2013-14 season, Anaheim owns the longest active streak for consecutive 100+ point seasons and co-leads the NHL in standings points (534 pts., 241-117-52) with Washington. Last season, the Ducks allowed the third-fewest goals (209) among NHL teams and established a franchise record with a .923 SV%, which co-led all NHL teams (NSH). Anaheim will play 13 games this month; only the 2013-14 Ducks played more October games (14) in club history.

FOR OPENERS:Anaheim has opened its regular season on the road in 20 of its 25 seasons, including seven of the last eight seasons dating to 2010-11. The Ducks are 6-18-0 in all-time season openers and have begun their regular-season schedule in San Jose on two other occasions (Oct. 9, 2008 and Oct. 10, 2015). With tomorrow's game at SAP Center, San Jose now joins Dallas as Anaheim's most frequent season-opening opponent (three times each). Anaheim's season-opening roster features six NHL rookies, including Max Comtois, Isac Lundestrom, Marcus Pettersson, Kiefer Sherwood, Sam Steel and Troy Terry. The six rookies on the opening roster are the most in franchise history, topping the previous high of five set in 1994-95 with Paul Kariya, Valeri Karpov, Steve Rucchin, David Sacco and Oleg Tverdovsky.
FOLLOW MY LEAD:Ryan Getzlaf enters the 2018-19 season leading the NHL with 281 primary assists since 2009-10. The Anaheim captain also ranks tied for third in overall assists (396) since 2010-11 and sixth in points (836) since 2006-07. Getzlaf is the all-time franchise leader in assists (628) and plus/minus (+165), while ranking second in points (875) and third in games (917). Last season, Getzlaf led the NHL in assists-per-game (0.89), while also pacing Anaheim in assists and ranking second in points. Getzlaf is currently in his 14th NHL season and his ninth as Anaheim captain.
BETWEEN THE PIPES:Both Ryan Miller (.928) and John Gibson (.926) surpassed the individual single-season franchise record for SV% (.924, Jonas Hiller in 2010-11, Gibson in 2016-17) last season. Miller ranked fifth among NHL goaltenders in SV%, while Gibson finished eighth in SV%, 10th in wins (31) and tied for ninth in shutouts (4). From the All-Star break through the end of the regular season, Gibson led league netminders in GAA (1.95; min. 20 games) and SV% (.937; min. 20 games) to go along with a 14-4-2 record. Gibson concluded the 2017-18 regular season with a 21-7-3 record in his last 31 decisions.
PRESEASON NUMBERS: The Ducks finished the 2018 preseason with a 3-3-0 record, winning their last three games and outscoring their opponents 14-6. John Gibson ranked third among preseason leaders in SV% (.968), tied for third in GAA (1.00) and was one of seven goaltenders to record a shutout. Jakob Silfverberg (3-2=5) and Adam Henrique (2-3=5) co-led the Ducks in scoring; Henrique led in assists; and Silfverberg and Max Comtois (3-1=4) co-led in goals.
HOW THE DUCKS WERE BUILT: Anaheim's 2018-19 regular-season roster of 23 players includes 14 forwards, seven defensemen and two goaltenders.
Returning players from 2017-18:
Andrew Cogliano - LW
Cam Fowler - D
Ryan Getzlaf - C
John Gibson - G
Adam Henrique - C
Hampus Lindholm - D
Josh Manson - D
Ryan Miller - G
Brandon Montour - D
Marcus Pettersson - D
Rickard Rakell - C
Jakob Silfverberg - RW
Troy Terry - RW
Arrived via free agency/trade/waivers:
Pontus Aberg - LW
Brian Gibbons - LW
Carter Rowney - C
Luke Schenn - D
Ben Street - C
Andrej Sustr - D
In the system:
Max Comtois - LW
Isac Lundestrom - C
Kiefer Sherwood - RW
Sam Steel - C
LEADING THE WAY: The winningest coach in Ducks history, Randy Carlyle led Anaheim to a 44-25-13 record for 101 points in 2017-18. The only person in NHL history to play 1,000 career NHL games and serve as head coach for 850-or-more contests (1,055 games played/868 games coached), Carlyle entered 2018-19 with a 454-308-106 all-time coaching record with Anaheim and Toronto (2011-15). He became the 36th NHL head coach all-time to reach the 400-win milestone on Mar. 12, 2017 vs. Washington. Carlyle went on to earn his 452nd career NHL win on Apr. 4, 2018 vs. Minnesota to surpass Brian Sutter (451-417-160) for sole spot of 31st among NHL coaches all-time.
THE 2017-18 SEASON: The Ducks completed the regular season 44-25-13 for 101 points, finishing second in the Pacific Division, tied for fourth in the Western Conference and tied for eighth in the NHL (MIN). The Ducks established a franchise record with a .923 SV%, which co-led all NHL teams (with Nashville). The previous team record for SV% in a single season was .921, set during the 1998-99 campaign. Anaheim finished the regular season ranked fifth among league leaders with an 83.2 PK%. Anaheim also scored 10 shorthanded goals, tying the franchise record established in 1995-96 and 2013-14.
MILESTONES WITHIN REACH:
Andrew Cogliano:1 goal to 100 goals as a Duck; 1 SHG from surpassing Paul Kariya (16) for the all-time franchise lead in SHG
Cam Fowler: 4 assists to 200 NHL assists; 3 goals from tying Francois Beauchemin (56) for second on the all-time franchise goals list for defensemen; 8 assists from tying Scott Niedermayer (204) for the all-time franchise lead among defensemen in assists; 2 GWG from tying Scott Niedermayer (13) for the all-time franchise lead among defensemen in GWG
John Gibson: 7 wins to 100 NHL wins
Adam Henrique:7 points to 300 NHL points
Hampus Lindholm:1 GWG from tying Oleg Tverdovsky (9) for fifth on the all-time franchise GWG list for defensemen
Ryan Miller: 4 wins from tying John Vanbiesbrouck (374) for the all-time lead among U.S.-born goaltenders in wins
Brandon Montour: 1 GWG from tying Lubomir Visnovsky (6) for eighth on the all-time franchise GWG list for defensemen
Rickard Rakell: 2 points to 200 NHL points; 4 goals to 100 NHL goals
Jakob Silfverberg:7 goals to 100 NHL goals; 10 points to 200 points as a Duck