Canucks at Ducks
The Anaheim Ducks appeared to bottom out during a franchise-record 12-game losing streak that starting in mid-December and dragged on for nearly four weeks. Instead, that was just the beginning of the misery for the reeling Ducks, who will play their first game since coach Randy Carlyle was fired when they host the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday night.
General manager Bob Murray had no choice but to send Caryle packing after a disastrous road trip extended Anaheim's current losing streak to seven games -- a wretched stretch in which it was outscored 37-8 and each defeat was by at least three goals. Murray opted against naming an interim coach and decided to move behind the bench himself to get an up-close view of the carnage. "It's more problematic than I thought a while ago," Murray said. "So I figured the only way I felt it was fair was for me to get down there." The Canucks have dropped four of five (1-3-1) to fall outside the top eight teams in the Western Conference and will try to regroup from a 7-2 drubbing by San Jose when they open a three-game California road trip.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, Sportsnet1 (Vancouver), FS West (Anaheim)
ABOUT THE CANUCKS (25-25-7): The goaltending situation is muddled in Vancouver, which was forced to start emergency call-up Mike DiPietro in the thrashing by the Sharks because Jacob Markstrom was a late scratch and backup Thatcher Demko is sidelined. The Canucks made a stop-gap move to shore up the position by sending a seventh-round pick in the 2020 draft to the New York Rangers in exchange for Marek Mazanec, who has spent the season with their American Hockey League affiliate in Hartford. Mazanec, 27, is 8-13-4 with a 2.98 goals-against average, last appearing in an NHL game in December 2016.
ABOUT THE DUCKS (21-26-9): Reviving Anaheim is enough of a task for Murray, who also has an unsettled situation in goal with John Gibson hurt and backup Chad Johnson yanked after giving up four first-period goals in Saturday's loss at Philadelphia. Kevin Boyle made his NHL debut by turning aside 24 of 26 shots in relief of Johnson, who is 2-11-0 on the season and is winless since beating San Jose on Nov. 9. The Ducks did get a pair of power-play goals courtesy of Adam Henrique and Nick Ritchie along with a pair of assists from captain Ryan Getzlaf, matching his point total from the previous eight games.
OVERTIME
1. Anaheim has won five of the past six meetings, including a 4-3 home victory on Nov. 21.
2. Canucks F Bo Horvat has scored in consecutive games to reach 20 goals and also tallied against Anaheim in November.
3. Getzlaf had a goal and an assist in the last meeting, giving him 49 points in 51 games versus Vancouver.