“The Quack Attack is back, Jack!” as the Montreal Canadiens make their way to Anaheim to face the Ducks on this Halloween afternoon.
Or maybe just watching an old Mighty Ducks movie might be a better idea for this flailing Canadiens squad. After a great matchup backed up brilliantly by Jake Allen on Thursday against the Sharks, the Habs were back to their confused and incoherent play on Saturday against the Kings and got pummelled 5-2 in a game that was never even close. A true horror movie was on display especially in the 2nd period. After the game the team held a closed door meeting and media availability was not possible until almost 30 minutes after the game ended. Marc Bergevin was reported being in the locker room as many people reported that he raised his voice more than once.
Meanwhile in the pond, the Ducks although not considered contenders nor rebuilders, boast one of the better defensive corp in the game. Led by Hampus Lindholm, the team has a good mix of veteran and young players at the blue line with the likes of Cam Fowler, Kevin Shattenkirk, prospect Jamie Drysdale and underrated shutdown defenceman Josh Manson. Having John Gibson between the pipe gives the team a legitimate chance to win every night, that is if the offense is even clicking. Led by aging captain Ryan Getzlaf, the Ducks don’t have much in offensive talent relying heavily on Adam Henrique and Troy Terry to lead the way.
Unless a surprise from Dominique Ducharme, Samuel Montembeault should get the start against John Gibson.
At the time of this writing, other than Montembeault, no changes are expected in the Montreal lineup.
Here is the tale of the tape for both teams:
Anaheim Ducks
2021-2022 Season Record: 2-4-3 (7 points) – 7th in Pacific Division
Head Coach: Dallas Eakins
Captain: Ryan Getzlaf
Injuries: Mason McTavish (lower body – indefinite), Max Jones (torn pectoral muscle – 4 to 6 months), Rickard Rakell (upper body – indefinite)
Projected Lineup:
Forwards
Adam Henrique – Ryan Getzlaf – Troy Terry
Maxime Comtois – Trevor Zegras – Sonny Milano
Sam Steel – Isac Lundestrom – Jakob Silfverberg
Nicolas Deslauriers – Benoit-Olivier Groulx – Derek Grant
Defense
Hampus Lindholm – Jamie Drysdale
Cam Fowler – Josh Manson
Simon Benoit – Kevin Shattenkirk
Goalies
John Gibson
Anthony Stolarz
Montreal Canadiens
2021-2022 Season Record: 2-7-0 (4 Points) 8th in Atlantic Division
Head Coach: Dominique Ducharme
Captain: Shea Weber
Injuries: Shea Weber (undisclosed – indefinite), Carey Price (personal – indefinite), Joel Edmundson (personal – indefinite), Paul Byron (hip – month-to-month)
Projected Lineup:
Forwards
Mike Hoffman – Nick Suzuki – Brendan Gallagher
Jonathan Drouin – Christian Dvorak – Josh Anderson
Tyler Toffoli – Mathieu Perreault – Cole Caufield
Artturi Lehkonen – Cedric Paquette – Joel Armia
Defense
Ben Chiarot – Jeff Petry
Alexander Romanov – David Savard
Sami Niku – Brett Kulak
Goalies
Samuel Montembeault
Jake Allen