GAME 9: Anaheim Ducks (4-3-1, 9 PTS) at Florida Panthers (5-5-0, 10 PTS)
When: Tuesday, 4 p.m. Pacific
Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise, Fla.
Local TV: FOX-Plus KCOP-13, Victory+
Radio: Ducks Stream
ML: ANA +155, BOS -185
Line: FLA -1.5
O/U: 6.5
Starting Goaltenders: Ducks - Lukáš Dostál; Bruins - Daniil Tarasov
Injuries: Ducks - Chris Kreider (illness), Radko Gudas (day-to-day, lower-body), Mikael Granlund (day-to-day, lower-body), Ryan Strome (IR, upper-body); Panthers - Brad Marchand (out, personal), Jonah Gadjovich (out, upper-body), Tomas Nosek (IR, knee), Dmitry Kulikov (IR, upper-body), Matthew Tkachuk (IR, groin), Aleksander Barkov (IR, knee)
The Anaheim Ducks enter the final game of an eastward road trip looking to stay above .500 on the season (4-3-1) and the five-game swing (2-1-1) against the two-time reigning Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers.
Where Anaheim’s resilience put them over the top in Boston on Thursday, Tampa Bay showed the fight of a contender on Saturday, as the Lightning broke a late tie and pinned the Ducks in their own zone over the final three minutes in a 4-3 Anaheim defeat.
The Ducks get another elite test, albeit a diminished one against the Panthers. Florida has won two of its last three, but the Panthers have also lost five of their last seven. Florida will also be without its leading goalscorer on Tuesday, as Brad Marchand attends to a personal matter.
Florida is, of course, also without its captain Aleksander Barkov (out for the season, ACL surgery) and Matthew Tkachuk (out through December, groin surgery).
Anaheim is not without its share of bumps and bruises, as the Ducks have lost both captain Radko Gudas and free agent signing Mikael Granlund to lower-body injuries in each of the last two games, respectively. Chris Kreider has also missed three consecutive games due to illness.
Radko Gudas and Chris Kreider are currently considered day-to-day. Mikael Granlund will reportedly be out two to three weeks, NHL.com reported from Ducks coach Joel Quenneville at morning skate.
The injuries will provide opportunity for Jansen Harkins to make his season debut in Sunrise, as the bottom-six utility forward was activated from injured reserve. Harkins sustained an upper-body injury in the preseason and was set to be out 6-8 weeks. Sunday marked five weeks from Harkins’ initial injury and just over four weeks from the recovery timeline being announced.
This game is also a return to Florida for Ducks coach Joel Quenneville, who was head coach of the Panthers from 2019 through seven games into the 2021-22 season. Quenneville’s last game with Florida was four years ago yesterday on Oct. 27, 2021.
Quenneville stepped down from his Florida post after the findings from an investigation into the 2010 Chicago Blackhawks sexual assault scandal. Quenneville was subsequently banned from the NHL until July 2024.
“It’s good to be back here. It’s been a while,” Quenneville told Florida Hockey Now on Monday. “Excited to be back in the game. Got a fun young team working with them. Kind of reminds me of when I first got here in Florida. You guys have had a lot of success over that time. Watched you guys a lot, and what a run you’ve had.”
Tuesday’s game will also be the fifth slot of the league’s first Frozen Frenzy schedule of the season. All 32 teams will be in action across 16 games with staggered start times across the night.
With the Ducks local broadcast on Victory+, there will also be whiparound coverage throughout the schedule on ESPN2, ESPN+ and Disney+ with live reports and look-ins to every game across the packed line-up.
Previous Game Lines at Tampa Bay, 10/25:
Cutter Gauthier-Leo Carlsson-Alex Killorn
Frank Vatrano-Mason McTavish-Beckett Sennecke
Nikita Nesterenko-Mikael Granlund (inj.)-Troy Terry
Ross Johnston-Ryan Poehling-Sam Colangelo
Jackson LaCombe-Drew Helleson
Olen Zellweger-Jacob Trouba
Pavel Mintyukov-Ian Moore
Lukáš Dostál
Petr Mrázek
Scratches: Jansen Harkins (activated off IR), Radko Gudas (lower-body), Chris Kreider (illness)