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Taking A Stab At Bruce Boudreau’s Lines: Arizona vs. Anaheim

By Catherine Silverman

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Bruce Boudreau is trolling the Coyotes, but it could hurt his team in the end

In unrelated news, the New Jersey Devils hired two head coaches to be head coach alongside interim head coach Lou Lamoriello. L’chaim, hockey world. 

The Anaheim Ducks decided to fly into Arizona this morning, aren’t doing a morning skate, and just got back from Christmas vacation — so I don’t know what head coach Bruce Boudreau is doing, but it seems tragically risky.

The Arizona Coyotes, on the other hand, haven’t beaten a team that isn’t the Edmonton Oilers in almost two months. So maybe the Ducks just don’t care.

Details for Saturday night’s game:

DATE: Saturday, December 27th
TIME: 6:00 P.M. (MST)
LOCATION: Glendale, Arizona
ARENA: Gila River Arena
TV INFO: Fox Sports AZ, PT25
SEASON-SERIES RECORD: 1-1-0

Starting Lineup:

Forwards:
Mikkel Boedker – Antoine Vermette – Shane Doan
Martin Erat – Martin Hanzal – Sam Gagner
Tobias Rieder – Kyle Chipchura – David Moss
Brandon McMillan – Joe Vitale – Lauri Korpikoski

Defense: 
Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Zbynek Michalek
Keith Yandle – Michael Stone
Brandon Gormley – Connor Murphy
Extra Skater: David Schlemko, Injured: Chris Summers

Goal: Devan Dubnyk

Five Things to Look For Tonight:

1. Devan Dubnyk’s Debut: In receiving his second consecutive start, Coyotes fans can safely assume that Devan Dubnyk is the Arizona Coyotes interim starting netminder right now. He’s making his Arizona debut against the Anaheim Ducks — Smith played in the last two contests, winning one and losing one — so it should be interesting to see how Dubnyk responds against one of the more physically aggressive teams in the league. So far, he’s only lost three games that he’s started in — but they’ve been against tougher teams, which Anaheim most certainly is.

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    • 2. Coyotes blue line: With Chris Summers out for an upper body injury and David Schlemko out as a healthy scratch, the Arizona Coyotes are rolling the three defensive lines that have most consistently performed so far this season. Gormley is back, and seems to be fired up — his first game upon returning from Portland saw him score his second goal of the season, so hopefully he and Connor Murphy will be up to giving a winning performance once more. Keith Yandle and Oliver Ekman-Larsson need to both be consistent tonight, though, if the team expects good results.

    3. Corey Perry watch: Anaheim’s biggest pest, Corey Perry, has been out for all but 23 games so far this season — with everything from a sprained knee to the mumps. If he’s back, he may be a bit rusty… but he also may be ready to catch up to Tyler Seguin in the scoring lead. Perry went from leading the NHL in goals (14) to sitting helpless for large stretches of November and December, so he could burst back and win it all. Of course, there’s no confirmation that he’s back yet — and if he isn’t, Anaheim has struggled a bit with netting goals of their own sans-Mr.-Mumpy.

    4. Road Revenge: The Ducks are 12-5-2 on the road this season — meaning they have as many wins on the road as the Coyotes do on the season. Ryan Kesler also seems to be a notorious Coyote-killer, with 54 points in 54 career games against the Arizona franchise. The Ducks are at the top of the league right now, but if the Coyotes can bring back the compete level they had in early November, this game could be a fun fight against an unsuspecting powerhouse.

    5. Sam Gagner Line: head coach Dave Tippett has swapped up the Coyotes’ middle two lines, putting Martin Erat in on the left wing in place of Tobias Rieder and relegating the rookie to the third line. Most likely a result of the nine combined points put up by the Erat-Hanzal-Gagner line against the Edmonton Oilers, the Coyotes’ new second line needs to find that chemistry and scorepower once more; if the Coyotes lose tonight, all the hard work put into that 5-1 victory right before Christmas will go to waste.

    WJC Watch:

    Anton Karlsson: recorded 3SOG against Team Czech Republic Friday night. As of 1:00P.M. MST, has one assist and (miraculously) no PIM against Team Denmark.

    Max Domi: 1G, 1A in Team Canada’s 8-0 shutout of Team Slovakia Friday night. His goal (the sixth of the game) was considered the prettiest; had another goal that was disallowed for goaltender interference. Will face off against Team Germany tonight, likely still on the top line.

    Auston Matthews: 3SOG for Team USA couldn’t help the young Arizona native, as his 4 PIM and on-ice presence during Finland’s lone regulation goal worked against him to earn him a -1 on the opening game. USA gets a rest tonight, will face off against Team Germany tomorrow.

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