Ducks at Oilers
The Anaheim Ducks are out of the Pacific Division's abyss and try to stay above water while wading their way back into Stanley Cup contention as they visit the last-place Edmonton Oilers on Thursday. Anaheim began its three-game division road trip through Western Canada with a 1-0 win over Calgary on Tuesday for its second straight victory - its third winning streak of the season - and meets Vancouver on Friday.
"It's big for us. All these games,'' the Ducks' Shawn Horcoff told reporters after scoring the only goal Tuesday, moving Anaheim one point ahead of Edmonton. "We know the stakes coming in here. They're really essentially four-point games for us." The Oilers have lost three consecutive contests and six of their last seven (1-6-0) since a season-high six-game winning streak after Tuesday's 5-2 loss to Los Angeles which included the Kings scoring three goals in a 1:36 span of the second period. "The way we behaved or acted a little bit after that disappointment, I thought our shoulders rolled a little bit,'' Edmonton coach Todd McLellan told reporters. "But the good news is we recovered for the third, we held our heads high and went back out and started to play hard again. If we can take anything positive out of it, it is that.” The Ducks average an NHL-low 1.89 goals while the Oilers, who prevailed 4-3 in overtime on Nov. 11 in the last meeting, allow the fourth-most at 3.11.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, KCOP-13 (Anaheim), Sportsnet West (Edmonton)
ABOUT THE DUCKS (14-15-6): Shea Theodore, a 20-year-old defenseman, made his NHL debut Tuesday and played 15 minutes, 45 seconds while paired with Clayton Stoner. "It was fun and fast," the 2014-15 Western Hockey League Defenseman of the Year told reporters after being called up from San Diego of the American Hockey League to replace Cam Fowler (knee). "It’s good to have a nice atmosphere like that for your first game. I played it simple. It helps when you have a defense partner like Clayton Stoner. He’s a simple guy to play with. He made things easy." Rickard Rakell (seven goals - second on the team to Corey Perry's 13) continues to evolve as an offensive threat with a goal and two assists in his last three games, and has a team-best plus-1 rating.
ABOUT THE OILERS (15-20-3): Edmonton hasn't qualified for the postseason since losing to Carolina in the 2006 Stanley Cup Final, and the drought likely will continue if it doesn't shore up its defense. The Oilers have allowed four or more goals in five of their last seven games as goaltenders Anders Nilsson (10-10-1, 2.91 goals-against average, .908 save percentage) and Cam Talbot (5-10-2, 3.03, .901) struggle on a team that allows 31.4 shots per contest - third-most in the NHL entering Wednesday. Taylor Hall (club bests of 15 goals and 40 points) is on pace to record a career season, besting the 27 tallies and 80 points he registered in 2013-14.
OVERTIME
1. Anaheim is 2-for-23 on the power play over its last 10 games, with both goals coming in Sunday's 4-2 victory over Philadelphia.
2. The Oilers have not scored a power-play goal in their last six contests (0-for-10) and are 1-for-19 over the last eight games.
3. The Ducks have won 13 of their last 16 contests and two straight in Edmonton.