Blue Jackets at Ducks
The Anaheim Ducks attempt to make the Columbus Blue Jackets their latest victims when the clubs face off at Honda Center on Friday. Anaheim enters with a winning streak that reached six games with Wednesday's 4-1 triumph over Buffalo. Corey Perry registered his seventh career hat trick - and second this campaign - while Frederik Andersen posted his 10th straight victory dating to last season as the Ducks improved to 3-0-0 on their five-game homestand.
Columbus evened its record at 1-1-0 on its four-game road trip Thursday with a 5-4 comeback victory at San Jose. The Blue Jackets overcame a 2-0 deficit to take the lead but fell behind in the third period before Nick Foligno forged a tie with 8:20 remaining and Mark Letestu netted the winner with 21 seconds to play. Letestu and Ryan Johansen each scored twice, with the latter raising his team-high total to five goals.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, FSN Ohio (Columbus), Prime Ticket (Anaheim)
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (4-2-0): Nick Foligno shares the club scoring lead with Johansen after notching a goal and an assist on Thursday to raise his point total to nine and extend his streak to six games. Scott Hartnell is one point behind Foligno and Johansen after collecting a career-high four assists against San Jose. The veteran remains in search of his first goal since being acquired from Philadelphia over the summer.
ABOUT THE DUCKS (6-1-0): With his three-goal performance against the Sabres, Perry pulled even with Rick Nash of the New York Rangers for the league lead with eight tallies. The 29-year-old former Hart Trophy winner registered his first hat trick of 2014-15 in the season opener and has tallied in four of Anaheim's seven contests. "Right now, everything he's touching is going in," coach Bruce Boudreau said. "Great players have these moments in the sun. The net looks huge to him."
OVERTIME
1. Andersen has won 26 of his first 31 regular-season decisions in the NHL (26-5-0).
2. Letestu netted Columbus' first short-handed goal of the season Thursday.
3. Perry became the sixth player in NHL history to record multiple hat tricks in his team's first seven games, joining Charlie Simmer (1985), Glenn Anderson (1987), Mario Lemieux (1988), Brian Savage (1999) and Ilya Kovalchuk (2003).