Game #47: Ducks vs. Panthers Gameday Preview

The Ducks will face the Florida Panthers again in the first home game of three before they head back on the road. The Ducks are coming off a 3-0 loss to the Panthers on Jan. 18. The Panthers have also not played since that 3-0 victory over the Ducks.

“That team is a veteran team,” Ducks head coach Greg Cronin. “They won a Cup, they've been through battles, they've grown together. Their habits are so good. It's a really good team for our guys to play against and watch what they do.”

Anaheim will be without Isac Lundeström, who suffered an apparent knee injury after being hit knee-to-knee by Sam Reinhart. Reinhart received a five-minute major penalty for kneeing and was ejected from the game. Lundeström is currently day-to-day.

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Trevor Zegras returns to the lineup tonight after a nearly six-week absence while recovering from meniscus surgery. He'll be on a line with Leo Carlsson and Alex Killorn, a line that was together prior to Zegras' injury. If past indications hold, Zegras will likely take most of the faceoffs while Carlsson will handle more of the offensive duties of being a center.

“His IQ offensively is elite,” Cronin said. “It probably is higher than anybody we've got in terms of seeing plays develop. He's one of those rare people that is two plays ahead. when he goes back to the bench, if you ask him what happened, what he was looking for, he's seeing it through the eyes of a video. He’s slowing the game down when he has possession. That’s certainly going to help in the offensive zone and on our rushes. It's going to help on the power play.”

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“He’s a big part of our team,” Frank Vatrano said. “I think he brings a whole different dynamic to our offensive group and makes us deeper up front. He’s the guy who wants to make plays and that's what we need.”

On the backend, the Panthers will be without Aaron Ekblad. Ekblad has missed the past five games with an undisclosed injury. Former Duck Dmitry Kulikov has been skating on the top pair alongside Gustav Forsling in Ekblad's absence and will likely do so again tonight.

Ducks Projected Lines

Frank Vatrano - Ryan Strome - Troy Terry
Trevor Zegras - Leo Carlsson - Alex Killorn
Cutter Gauthier - Mason McTavish - Robby Fabbri
Nikita Nesterenko - Jansen Harkins - Brett Leason

Jackson LaCombe - Radko Gudas
Brian Dumoulin - Olen Zellweger
Pavel Mintyukov - Jacob Trouba

Lukáš Dostál (confirmed)

Panthers Projected Lines

Matthew Tkachuk - Aleksander Barkov - Sam Reinhart
Eetu Luostarinen - Sam Bennett - Mackie Samoskevich
Carter Verhaeghe - Anton Lundell - Jesper Boqvist
A.J. Greer - Tomáš Nosek - Evan Rodrigues

Gustav Forsling - Dmitry Kulikov
Niko Mikkola - Nate Schmidt
Tobias Björnfot - Uvis Balinskis

Sergei Bobrovsky (confirmed)