Game 2 of the San Jose Sharks season will feature some of the future stars of the NHL. The young Anaheim Ducks enter SAP Center tonight with the hopes of showing that its rebuild is going better than the Sharks.
The big news for the Sharks this morning is the health of Macklin Celebrini. After earning the first star of the night and scoring a goal and an assist in his NHL debut, the forward is banged up. He was placed on injured reserve by the Sharks, meaning he won’t play again for at least a week.
SJ has placed Macklin Celebrini on injured reserve. That’s a minimum 7 days from last game played (Thursday)
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) October 12, 2024
The Sharks are likely taking every precaution possible with the young forward. Without him, the lines will be mixed up tonight.
Jack Thompson was recalled from the Barracuda to fill the roster spot. He won’t play tonight, but he could be an option for the next game.
For the Ducks, this will be the first game of the season. Anaheim opens the night with a mostly healthy roster. Aside from John Gibson, who had an emergency appendectomy at the end of September, the Ducks are expected to ice a full roster of its young players.
The team added Robby Fabbri and Brian Dumoulin in the offseason. It picked James Reimer up off of waivers when Gibson’s health became an issue. Reimer is expected to back up Lukas Dostal in net tonight.
As for the younger players, in addition to Leo Carlsson, look for Cutter Gauthier, Olen Zellweger and Tristan Luneau to be on the opening night roster.
San Jose Sharks lines
Without Celebrini in the lineup, the Sharks lineup will look different today. The San Jose Mercury News’ Curtis Pashelka reports that Danil Gushchin and Givani Smith will be the healthy scratches, with Carl Grundstrom and Klim Kostin getting the starts.
Confirmed https://t.co/HBSFUwv66N
— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) October 12, 2024
Can’t see how it helps having Gushchin up from the Barracuda if all he’s going to do is watch from the sidelines.
Here’s what The Daily Faceoff reports the lines will look like tonight.
Forwards
William Eklund – Mikael Granlund – Tyler Toffoli
Klim Kostin – Will Smith – Fabian Zetterlund
Barlcay Goodrow – Alex Wennberg – Luke Kunin
Carl Grundstrom – Nico Sturm – Ty Dellandrea
Defense
Mario Ferraro – Jan Rutta
Jake Walman – Cody Ceci
Henry Thrun – Matt Benning
Goaltenders
Vitek Vanecek
Mackenzie Blackwood
Anaheim Ducks lines for opening night
The Ducks landed in San Jose yesterday and spent the night here. Because it’s opening night for Anaheim, the lines are pretty easy to determine since it’s what the team has been practicing with. Below is what Derek Lee of the Hockey News reports.
Ducks practice lines today:
— Derek Lee (@Derek_Lee27) October 11, 2024
Gauthier-Carlsson-Killorn
Fabbri-McTavish-Zegras
Vatrano-Strome-Terry
Johnston/McGinn-Lundeström-Leason
LaCombe-Gudas
Fowler-Luneau
Mintyukov-Dumoulin
Vaakanainen-Zellweger
Dostál-Reimer#FlyTogether
Forwards
Cutter Gauthier – Leo Carlsson – Alex Killorn
Robby Fabbri – Mason McTavish – Trevor Zegras
Frank Vatrano – Ryan Strome – Troy Terry
Brock McGinn – Isac Ludestrom – Brett Leason
Defense
Jackson Lacombe – Radko Gudas
Cam Fowler – Tristan Luneau
Pavel Mintyukov – Brian Dumoulin
Goaltenders
Lukas Dostal
James Reimer
How to watch Ducks at Sharks Oct. 12, 2024
Tonight’s game will be NBC Sports California. Look for Randy Hahn and Drew Remenda on the air. Dan Rusanowsky will have the call on the Sharks Audio Network with Dan Boyle making his season debut on the audio call.
If you’re watching from Anaheim, look for the game on KCOP 13 or Victory+. You can also listen on the Ducks Stream if you’re so inclined.
The puck drops at 7 p.m. at SAP Center.
