Game #11: Ducks vs. Blackhawks Gameday Preview

After a four-game road trip on the East Coast, the Ducks have returned to Southern California for a six-game homestand. They’ll kick things off with a Sunday night matchup against the Chicago Blackhawks, who are 4-7-1.

The Ducks’ latest result was an overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh. Sidney Crosby was responsible for both of the Penguins goals, potting the game-winner in overtime.

Related: Inside the Ducks’ “Up and Down” Road Trip

The Blackhawks are coming off a sensational comeback win yesterday against the Los Angeles Kings in which they erased a two-goal deficit before securing the victory in the shootout.

While Arvid Söderblom has been confirmed as the Blackhawks’ starter for tonight’s game after Petr Mrázek got the start in Los Angeles, the Ducks’ starter is not known. One thing is for sure, it won’t be John Gibson. The goaltender is still recovering from an appendectomy and while he did travel and practice with the team during their recent road trip, he was not present for practice yesterday.

The expectation is that Lukáš Dostál, who has received the brunt of the workload in Gibson’s absence, will start once again. In eight games this season, he has a 4-2-2 record with a 1.99 GAA and a .945 SV%. He currently leads the league in save percentage and is second in goals against average.

Head coach Greg Cronin appears to be tinkering with the lines again as Ryan Strome and Troy Terry swapped spots for Saturday’s practice. The move is an effort to get Mason McTavish going offensively. The 21-year-old has five points in 10 games, but has failed to find the net thus far.

Putting Strome on the top line helps insulate Leo Carlsson with two players (Strome and Robby Fabbri) capable of filling in on faceoffs, an area that Carlsson has struggled with since becoming an NHLer.

Related: Ducks vs Blackhawks Pre-Game Stat Pack

Ducks Projected Lines

Robby Fabbri – Leo Carlsson – Ryan Strome
Frank Vatrano – Mason McTavish – Troy Terry
Cutter Gauthier – Trevor Zegras – Alex Killorn
Brock McGinn – Isac Lundeström – Brett Leason

Cam Fowler – Olen Zellweger
Jackson LaCombe – Radko Gudas
Pavel Mintyukov – Brian Dumoulin

Lukáš Dostál (projected)

Blackhawks Projected Lines

Philipp Kurashev – Connor Bedard – Ryan Donato
Taylor Hall – Nick Foligno – Tyler Bertuzzi
Ilya Mikheyev – Jason Dickinson – Teuvo Teräväinen
Pat Maroon – Lukas Reichel – Craig Smith

Wyatt Kaiser – Seth Jones
Alex Vlasic – Connor Murphy
Nolan Allan – Isaak Phillips

Arvid Söderblom (confirmed)

Related: The Secret is Out: Lukas Dostal is Casually Incredible