The lines you saw in the first half of the game in Ottawa are likely to carry over. Rickard Rakell skated alongside Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, while Nick Ritchie flanked Antoine Vermette and Ondrej Kase. The shutdown line remained intact, as it's been all season, and the fourth line will likely be Joseph Cramarossa, Logan Shaw and Stefan Noesen. Jared Boll took rushes with the fourth line on right wing, so he could draw in instead of Noesen, but we'll see what pregame warmups have in store.
John Gibson came off the ice first, so it's likely he gets the start for Anaheim. Gibson enters the game with an 11-9-5 mark in 25 appearances, which includes a 16-save effort in the club's 2-1 overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators last Thursday.
While the break was a welcome respite from the rigors of the season, specifically this month with the amount of games that have been played, Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle wants to see his club find consistency in an otherwise inconsistent season. With the halfway point of the 2016-17 campaign just a handful of games away, he says there shouldn't be any grey area with the template put into place.
"We're looking to reinforce some of the things we've done for parts of games and parts of the season that need to be staples," Carlyle said today. "There shouldn't be any confusion or question marks of what's expected. That's been our message. We need to play to the level we're capable of playing, and it has to start against a very good team tonight."
Ryan Kesler adds, "We got our rest in, and now we push forward. We have more to give."
Because of the mandated Christmas break, the Sharks were not permitted to travel to Anaheim yesterday. Therefore, they held their morning skate in San Jose earlier this morning before making the 60-minute flight to Southern California. Martin Jones, who has an 18-11-1 record in 30 appearances, will get the start. There won't be any changes to their lineup, as confirmed by head coach Pete DeBoer, and with good reason. The Sharks enter tonight's game with wins in six of their past seven games including two in a row leading into the break.
"This is an elite team that makes you earn everything on the ice," said Andrew Cogliano. "You have to be ready to play. They force you to be at the top of your game. Hopefully we can have a strong start and create some energy in our building."
Potential Line Combinations
Anaheim
Rakell-Getzlaf-Perry
Cogliano-Kesler-Silfverberg
Ritchie-Vermette-Kase
Cramarossa-Shaw-Noesen/Boll
Fowler-Vatanen
Lindholm-Manson
Theodore-Bieksa
Gibson
Bernier
San Jose
Marleau-Thornton-Pavelski
Labanc-Couture-Boedker
Meier-Tierney-Donskoi
Karlsson-Haley-Ward
Martin-Burns
Vlasic-Braun
Dillon-DeMelo
Jones
Dell
