Ducks at Wild
The Anaheim Ducks begin a stretch of playing seven of their next eight games on the road when they visit the Minnesota Wild on Friday. Corey Perry sent the Ducks away from Honda Center on a high note, notching two assists before scoring the decisive goal in the shootout in a 5-4 victory over Philadelphia on Wednesday. The former Hart Trophy recipient also made his presence felt in Anaheim's first meeting with the Wild by netting the eventual winning tally in a 2-1 triumph on Oct. 17.
Jason Zucker scored the Wild's lone goal in that contest and also tallied in a 2-1 win over Montreal on Wednesday. Minnesota is riding high with a 7-2-1 mark in its last 10 games overall and an 8-2-1 record at home, although the team has heard its fair share of jeering in relation to its sputtering power play (7-for-78, nine percent). "It doesn't help," Zach Parise told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune of the crowd's reaction. "They’re frustrated, and I understand that. And they have a right to be frustrated. We’re frustrated, and then when we get booed, we get more frustrated, and then it snowballs."
TV: 8 p.m. ET, Prime Ticket (Anaheim), FSN North Plus (Minnesota)
ABOUT THE DUCKS (16-6-5): Veteran defenseman Eric Brewer is expected to miss four to six weeks with a broken bone in his foot that he sustained while playing in his second game after being acquired from Tampa Bay. Anaheim's ever-changing blue line saw the return of Clayton Stoner against the Flyers after he missed five contests with the mumps, while fellow defenseman Mark Fistric also was activated from injured reserve. As for positives, blue-liner Sami Vatanen is enjoying an offensive explosion this season, collecting a career-high seven goals while his 21 points match his previous best set over 48 games in 2013-14.
ABOUT THE WILD (14-9-1): Coach Mike Yeo is keeping an open mind about the availability of Ryan Suter as the stud defenseman deals with the mumps. "I'm not even ready to rule him out for (Friday)," Yeo told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune regarding Suter, who has led the league in ice time over the last two seasons - in addition to 2014-15 as well. "Marco (Scandella) missed two games with this and 'Bally' (Keith Ballard) missed eight games with it, so it affects people differently." Like the Ducks, the Wild have been hit hard by the virus, which has sidelined defensemen Jonas Brodin (seven games) and Christian Folin (five games).
OVERTIME
1. Anaheim captain Ryan Getzlaf has scored two goals and set up four others in his last three games and has recorded 31 points (eight goals, 23 assists) in 33 meetings with Minnesota.
2. While their power play is struggling, the Wild have yielded just two goals while short-handed over their last 10 games.
3. The Ducks acquired D Colby Robak and a conditional draft pick from Florida for D Jesse Blacker on Thursday.