The Ducks open the 2011-12 preseason tonight in a matchup with the Pacific Division rival Coyotes tonight at Honda Center.

Phoenix finished the last regular season by matching the Ducks with 99 points, but were sixth in the Western Conference after the tiebreaker (Nashville, also with 99, was fifth). Like the Ducks, the Coyotes also bowed out of the postseason in the first round, getting swept by Detroit.

The Ducks went 3-4-0 in preseason competition last season, including a 4-1 loss to the Coyotes in the preseason opener on Sept. 21, 2010 at Honda Center. Anaheim posted a 3-3-0 record vs. Phoenix during the 2010-11 regular season.

Tonight's lineup is below.

7	C         Andrew Cogliano
8	RW      Teemu Selanne
11	C         Saku Koivu
17	D         Lubomir Visnovsky
18	C         Mark Bell
19	LW      J.F. Jacques
25	D         Matt Smaby
34	D         Nate Guenin
40	D         Sean Zimmerman
42	RW      Dan Sexton
47	D         Bryan Rodney
51	RW      Kyle Palmieri
58	D         Jake Newton
62	LW      Patrick Maroon
63	C         Nick Bonino
64	LW      Brandon McMillan
65	RW      Emerson Etem
67	RW      Rickard Rakell
73	D         Mat Clark
74	C         Peter Holland
77	RW      Devante Smith-Pelly
82	C         Joseph Cramarossa

Goalies

36	G         John Gibson
72	G         Igor Bobkov

Players not appearing in tonight’s game will be working at various locations at Honda Center tonight and tomorrow (players/times are subject to change):
- Team Store (main concourse) - Ryan Getzlaf & Bobby Ryan (6:00-6:30 p.m.) 
- Elevator operator (Southeast Concierge near section 204) – George Parros (working elevator 6:00 to 6:15 then FanZone from 6:15 to 6:45).
- FanZone (section 214) – Sheldon Brookbank (6:00-7:00)
- Will Call Window (near section 201) – Francois Beauchmin & Jason Blake (6:00- 6:20) 
- Oggi’s Pizza (near section 203) – Cam Fowler, Luca Sbisa, Nick Bonino (6:00-7:00)

The Ducks open the 2011 preseason with five games in six nights beginning this evening against Phoenix. Following tonight’s game, Anaheim will host the San Jose Sharks tomorrow night (Sept. 21) at Honda Center (7:05 p.m.). The Ducks will then embark on a three-game road trip to San Jose (Friday, Sept. 23; 7:30 p.m.), Vancouver (Saturday, Sept. 24; 7:00 p.m.) and Los Angeles (Sunday, Sept. 25, 6:30 p.m.).

There are currently 47 players on the Ducks Training Camp roster. Ten players that appeared for the Ducks in 2010-11  are scheduled to compete in tonight’s game, including right wings Teemu Selanne and Dan Sexton. Center Saku Koivu returns for his third season with the Ducks and is slated to play this evening. In addition, second-year left winger Brandon McMillan and 2010-11 leading defensive scorer Lubomir Visnovsky will make their preseason debuts tonight. Also competing tonight are 2009 first-round pick Kyle Palmieri and center Nick Bonino, each of whom played a portion of games for the Ducks last season (Palmieri - 10; Bonino – 26). Also slated to appear are newly acquired center Andrew Cogliano, 2010 first-round selection and Long Beach native Emerson Etem and 2011 draft picks Rickard Rakell (first round, 30th overall), John Gibson (second round, 39th overall) and Joseph Cramarossa (third round, 65th overall)