11h Man Up
Still no information on Cam Fowler's knee injury. Not that the lack of news should come as a surprise. NHL teams are tight lipped during the regular season when it comes to injuries. Around playoff time playoffs those lips become hermetically sealed. Needless to say, Fowler won't be making an appearance tonight. Even if the injury isn't as bad as it looked, there is no reason for the Ducks to play him in their remaining regular season games.
Fowler has been Anaheim's best defenseman this year. The second best, Hampus Lindholm (UBI), is also out tonight. Clayton Stoner has been out since November. He has not been medically cleared to play; and even if he was the Ducks don't have the cap space to activate the stay-at-home defender to activate him. That's half the Ducks projected d-corps.
The eighth defenseman, Korbinian Holzer is done for the regular season as well. He headed back to Germany in order to handle a personal matter. Jacob Larsson, who surprised everyone by making the Ducks opening night roster, was sent back to Sweden on loan to his former club Frolundia, who is still alive in the SEL playoffs.
The above confluence of events leads us to situation we are in now. Earlier today the Ducks called up Jaycob Megna from San Diego. The defense oriented blueliner will make his NHL debut tonight. He'll be on the bottom pairing with Sami Vatanen, who is returning tonight from a two game injury absence.
Chicago @ Ducks
This is a clash between the two division leaders in the Western Conference at the Honda Center. It should be a preview of a very possible Western Conference Finals matchup, but it isn't. Instead we have a pre-season game in the regular season. The Ducks muddied defense situation is one reason. Another is the Blackhawks plan to rest some of their key players.
John Gibson gets another start in net as he ramps back up after a stint on injured reserve. Ondrej Kase is back with the Ducks and will skate on the left side of the Vermette/Perry line. In practice, Nick Ritchie was demoted to fourth line status. Either Logan Shaw or Chris Wagner will join Jared Boll in the press box as healthy scratches. Here is the Ducks projected lineup:
Forwards
Rakell-Getzlaf-Eaves
Kase-Vermette-Perry
Cogliano-Kesler-Silfverberg
Ritchie-Thompson-Shaw/Wagner
Defenseman
Theodore-Manson
Bieksa-Montour
Megna-Vatanen
Goalies
Gibson
Bernier
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