Opening on the road isn't something new for the Ducks. In fact, this marks the 20th time (in 25 seasons) the Ducks have opened their regular season on the road, including seven of the last eight seasons dating back to the 2010-11 campaign. Anaheim is 6-18-0 in all-time season openers, and has opened its schedule in San Jose on two previous occasions (Oct. 9, 2008 and Oct. 10, 2015). With tonight's contest, the Sharks join the Dallas Stars as the Ducks' most frequent season-opening opponent.
This is a retooled Ducks opening night roster, one that features six additions via free agency or waivers. Forwards Brian Gibbons, Carter Rowney and Ben Street were signed as free agents, as were defensemen Luke Schenn and Andrej Sustr. Pontus Aberg, meanwhile, was claimed on waivers from the Edmonton Oilers two days ago. It's also a roster that features six NHL rookies - the most in franchise history. Those players are Max Comtois, Isac Lundestrom, Marcus Pettersson, Kiefer Sherwood, Sam Steel and Troy Terry. Of the six, Pettersson has the most NHL experience with 22 regular-season appearances last season (and four more in the playoffs). The six rookies on the opening roster tops the previous high of five set in 1994-95 with Paul Kariya, Valeri Karpov, Steve Rucchin, David Sacco and Oleg Tverdovsky.
"This is an exciting time of year," said Ryan Getzlaf. "This is a day we all look forward to. Some of the young guys, I'm sure, are pretty excited to be here still. For those of us who went through training camp, we're ready to play."
In his 14th NHL season - and ninth as captain of the Ducks - Getzlaf enters the 2018-19 campaign leading the NHL with 281 primary assists since 2009-10. The 33-year-old center also ranks tied for third in overall assists (396) since 2010-11 and sixth in points (836) since the club's Cup-winning 2006-07 season. As the franchise's all-time leader in assists (628) and plus/minus (+165), Getzlaf also ranks second in points (875) and third in games (917).
As for the Sharks, tonight's game will mark the debut of two-time Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson, acquired from the Ottawa Senators in a blockbuster trade on September 13. Karlsson joins a Sharks blueline that also includes former Norris Trophy winner Brent Burns. Veteran center Joe Thornton (who recently shocked the hockey world by shaving his noteworthy beard), is back for another season and currently needs just seven more games to reach 1,500 in his illustrious NHL career. If he reaches the milestone, he will become just the 19th skater in NHL history to appear in 1,500 contests.
