The Ducks begin a four game east coast road swing in Buffalo tonight. Anaheim sits in the cellar of the Western Conference. Failure on this trip is not an option and the competition is pretty good. If the team's fortunes don't turn around, this may be Bruce Boudreau's last stand in charge of the Ducks. Additionally, trade trade talks around the league are heating up. It is conceivable that after this horrid start, some current Ducks may be gone by the new year.
Ducks @ Buffalo
The Sabres are a team on the upswing, so they won't be easy to beat. One thing in Anaheim's favor is the unsettled situation in the Sabre goal. Although he has his moments, Chad Johnson doesn't exactly inspire fear in his opponents. The Ducks however need to focus on their own game and beat whoever plays goalie against them.
Jiri Sekac returns to the Anaheim lineup. He will slot into the left side of line two with Ryan Kesler and Jakob Silfverberg. John Gibson (4-3-1, 1.74, .933) is once again the starting goalie for the Ducks. Beginning a three game suspension, Nate Thompson is out of the lineup. Mike Santorelli will slide from left wing to center on the fourth line taking Thompson's place and Pat Maroon will come out of press box exile a backfill as the left wing. Here is tonight's line up:
Forwards Rakell-Getzlaff-Perry Sekac-Kesler-Silfverberg Hagelin-Horcoff-Cogliano Maroon-Santorelli-Stewart
Defensemen Fowler-Bieksa Lindholm-Manson Stoner-Vatanen
Goalies Gibson Andersen
-Ed