Canadiens Game 10 Preview: Canadiens vs Ducks

“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