Baltic Gal
Moderator
Ducks VS Sharks
12/31/2014
In Anaheim,CA
@5:00PM Pacific Time
Happy New Years Eve!
arty:
Preview:
12/31/2014
In Anaheim,CA
@5:00PM Pacific Time
Happy New Years Eve!
arty: Preview:
Ducks Look to Close out Calendar Year with Home Win vs. Sharks
SHARKS (19-13-5) at DUCKS (24-8-6)
TV: CSN-CA, FS-W
Tonight's Game: The NHL-leading Anaheim Ducks (24-8-6, 54 pts.) continue a season-high eight-game homestand when they host the San Jose Sharks tonight at Honda Center (5 p.m. PST, FOX Sports West/AM 830). With one game remaining in 2014, Anaheim leads the NHL in points (107) and points percentage (.686) during the 2014 calendar year. The Ducks have points in three straight games (2-0-1), are 10-2-1 in their last 13 games, 13-4-1 in their last 18 and 24-7-6 in their last 37. The club is in the midst of 36-of-37 days within Southern California (beginning Dec. 20 through Jan. 25). The homestand also features visits from St. Louis (Jan. 2), Nashville (Jan. 4), New York Rangers (Jan. 7), Winnipeg (Jan. 11), Toronto (Jan. 14) and New Jersey (Jan. 16). This marks Anaheim's longest stretch of consecutive home games since Mar. 2-23, 2007, when the club went 6-1-1 in a similar eight-game homestand.
On This New Year's Eve: The Ducks will play their 14th New Year's Eve game in club history tonight vs. San Jose, the sixth Dec. 31 contest at Honda Center all-time. Anaheim's first New Year's Eve home game was on Dec. 31, 1995 vs. Los Angeles, a 2-2 tie. The Ducks did not host another New Year's Eve game again until Dec. 31, 2008 vs. Columbus, a 2-0 loss. The 1995 game was Anaheim's lone Dec. 31 contest during the club's first six seasons (note: the 1994-95 NHL season did not begin until Jan. 1995). Since that time, the Ducks have played 13 of the last 15 New Year's Eves (dating to Dec. 31, 1999), with the exceptions coming in the 2007-08 season and in 2012 (lockout). Anaheim's most frequent Dec. 31 opponent has been Minnesota (three games), followed by San Jose, Dallas and Columbus (two games each). The Ducks have played their last three New Year’s Eves at Honda Center, including 2013 vs. San Jose, 2011 vs. Colorado and 2010 vs. Philadelphia.
Ducks-Sharks: Anaheim and San Jose play the fourth game of a five-game season series tonight at Honda Center. The Ducks are 55-56-10 all-time vs. the Sharks and own a 28-28-5 home record against their Pacific Division rival. Anaheim is 1-2-0 vs. San Jose this season, earning a 3-2 overtime win in the most recent meeting on Dec. 22 at Honda Center. The Ducks have won six of their last eight home games (6-2-0) against the Sharks dating to a 3-1 victory on Mar. 28, 2012.Ryan Getzlaf paces Anaheim skaters in career scoring vs. San Jose, notching 49 points (10g/39a) in 56 games. Following tonight's game, the season series will conclude at SAP Center on Jan. 29.
Ducks team scope: Forward Corey Perry, who has missed 10 games since sustaining a lower-body injury Dec. 5 against the Minnesota Wild, might return to the lineup Wednesday. He and injured teammates Tim Jackman (upper body) andKyle Palmieri (upper body) participated in practice again Tuesday. "[Perry's] looking better every day, so is [Palmieri] and so is Jackman," said head coach Bruce Boudreau. "I'm going to talk to the trainers later, but probably won't know a definitive answer until [Wednesday] morning. We'll have to know in the morning because if he [Perry] was going to play, then we'd have to do some figuring out, roster-wise." Despite missing 15 games because of illness and injury, Perry's 14 goals are second on Anaheim (Matt Beleskey, 15). The Ducks assigned 33-year-old forward Dany Heatley to Norfolk of the American Hockey League after he cleared waivers. Heatley, who has 372 goals in 869 NHL games, signed with Anaheim in July but has no points in six games. Anaheim is 10-2-1 in December; goalie Frederik Andersen has won all 10 games, setting the Ducks record for victories in a month.
Sharks team scope: After winning five straight games, San Jose has lost three in a row (0-2-1), including 3-1 to the Vancouver Canucks on home ice Monday. It was the Sharks' first loss at SAP Center in nine games. "We haven't played that well coming out of the Christmas break, so tomorrow is a huge game and we need to find some energy," said center Joe Thornton, who scored the Sharks' first penalty-shot goal in five years, to the day, in the second period. (Thornton and Ryan Clowe each scored on a penalty shot in a 5-2 win against the Washington Capitals on Dec. 30, 2009.) Joe Pavelski also had a penalty shot Monday, but he hit the crossbar with his first-period attempt. Forward Matt Nieto was activated from injured reserve Tuesday and returned to the lineup after missing nine games with an ankle injury. He skated on the fourth line, and had two shots and was minus-2 in 13:58 of ice time, including 1:02 on the power play. Defenseman Matt Irwin was returned to the lineup after sitting the previous eight games as a healthy scratch; he was minus-1 in 14:40.
