The Hard Way

Wednesday night the Ducks pulled out a gritty win over Carolina at the Honda Center. Someone didn't tell the defense there was a game, but fortunately as a team the Ducks brought their perseverance and determination. Anaheim fell behind by two goals on three different occasions due to sloppy play and puck possession. Battling back time and again, the Ducks eventually scored twice in the last four minutes to send the contest into extra time; before prevailing in the shootout.

Every now and then every team needs a watershed moment. After two straight division defeats including a humiliating performance in Calgary, the Ducks needed to pull out a hard fought win to reestablish their footing.

Stefan Noesen was recalled from San Diego earlier that day. He scored his first NHL goal later in the second period off a nice pass from Joseph Cramerosa.

Corey Perry's game tying goal at the end of the third period. It was his first score since October 26th.

Roster Shakeup/Sort Of

Yesterday, the Ducks placed left wing Ryan Garbutt on waivers. Although Garbutt had good chemistry with Ryan Getzlaf after his arrival from Chicago last season, he hasn't been able to find the same success under Randy Carlyle this year.

A few thoughts on this move.

When Garbutt clears, sending him to the minors opens up $900K in cap space. If another player is recalled, the net will be negligible at best. His contract is not the one that needs to be moved in order to bring in a scorer.

Also negligible, is the effect Garbutt's removal from the bottom six would be. Its surprising that GM Bob Murray couldn't find a team to send him to.

Noesen's recall brings the total number of players under to 25 years of age to 12. All the signs of a commitment to develop younger players.

Sharks @ Ducks

Tonight San Jose is the Ducks opponent at the Honda Center. The teams are tied with each other for third place in the Pacific Division with 31 points, one behind co-leaders Edmonton and Calgary. As always, when the Ducks and Sharks play each other, fans can expect sparks to fly.

Rickard Rakell returns to Anaheim's lineup after missing the past two games. He'll rejoin the top line with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry. Carlyle continues his goalie rotation meaning Jonathan Bernier will man the Ducks net. Here is tonight's expected lineup:

Forwards
Rakell-Getzlaf-Perry
Cogliano-Kesler-Silfverberg
Ritchie-Vermette-Kase
Cramarosa-Noesen-Shaw

Defensemen
Fowler-Vatanen
Lindholm-Manson
Theodore-Bieksa

Goalies
Bernier
Gibson

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