It's been a long time coming for Montour, who has dominated at the AHL level with the San Diego Gulls for the past 1 ½ seasons. A late bloomer, the Brantford, Ontario native was selected by Anaheim in the second round (55th overall) on the 2014 NHL Draft - his final year of eligibility.
His parents, Cam and Tammy, will fly in for the game later today, and it just so happens to be his mom's birthday. "There's a lot of emotion," Montour said today. "This is what I grew up for. Just gonna go out, play my game and enjoy the whole experience."
In just a few hours, he'll make his debut in front of his parents in his home country with plenty of friends and family surely tuning in. But first thing's first - a pregame snooze.
"There might be a little bit of nerves, but it's more about excitement," he said. "I'm sure I'll be fine. I'll take a nice little nap this afternoon and I'm gonna enjoy it."
John Gibson was the first netminder off the ice, so he'll likely make his 25th start of the season for the Ducks. The 23-year-old stopped 22-of-25 shots in his previous outing, a 3-2 overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks on December 27 at Honda Center. Gibson comes in with an 11-9-6 mark, 2.63 goals-against average and .906 save percentage.
We might also see Rickard Rakell move back to the center position tonight alongside Antoine Vermette and Corey Perry. Head coach Randy Carlyle has said long-term he'd like to see Rakell down the middle - a position he predominantly played until a switch to left wing last season. Rakell enters tonight's game leading the Ducks in goals (14) and has 21 points in 25 games.
Reports from the morning skate also indicate Shea Theodore getting scratched in favor of Korbinian Holzer, so expect him to flank Kevin Bieksa on the third pairing, at least to start. The Ducks have also reassigned forward Stefan Noesen to San Diego. Therefore, Jared Boll will draw in alongside Joseph Cramarossa and Logan Shaw.
Potential Line Combinations
Anaheim
Ritchie-Getzlaf-Kase
Cogliano-Kesler-Silfverberg
Vermette-Rakell-Perry
Cramarossa-Shaw-Boll
Fowler-Montour
Lindholm-Manson
Holzer-Bieksa
Gibson
Bernier
Calgary
Versteeg-Monahan-Ferland
Gaudreau-Bennett-Chiasson
Tkachuk-Backlund-Frolik
Bouma-Stajan-Hathaway
Giordano-Hamilton
Brodie-Wideman
Jokipakka-Engelland
Johnson
Elliott
