Jets at Ducks
Two teams battling mediocrity face off Sunday, when the Anaheim Ducks kick off their season-high eight-game homestand against the Winnipeg Jets. Anaheim has gone 3-0-2 during its five-game point streak but has struggled on offense more than it usually does, scoring just one goal in each of its last three contests.
John Gibson is expected to be in net Sunday as he looks to post his fourth consecutive victory and third straight shutout. The Ducks climbed to .500 on Thursday with their second 1-0 triumph in a row and remained there when they fell at Vancouver in a shootout the following night. Winnipeg got to the .500 mark with Saturday's 4-1 win at San Jose, which put it at 1-1-0 on its five-game road trip. Anaheim won all three meetings with the Jets last season, posting one victory in regulation, one in overtime and one in a shootout.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, TSN3 (Winnipeg), Prime Ticket, FSN San Diego (Anaheim)
ABOUT THE JETS (18-18-2): Mark Scheifele has not played since Dec. 22 because of a concussion but could make his return Sunday. The 22-year-old is tied for second on the team with 12 goals — three shy of his career high set last season. Blake Wheeler, who leads the club with 39 points, has collected 11 assists during his last eight games but hasn't scored a goal in nine contests.
ABOUT THE DUCKS (15-15-7): Gibson turned aside a total of 35 shots while blanking Calgary and Edmonton in back-to-back road games, doubling his shutout total for the season and extending his shutout streak to 157 minutes, 34 seconds. Anaheim will be without Cam Fowler for a while, announcing the defenseman will miss four-to-six weeks with a sprained knee. "I kind of had an idea of what I was looking at when it first happened (last Sunday), so it was kind of to be expected," Fowler told the team's website.
OVERTIME
1. The Jets have lost 12 of their last 14 road contests.
2. Anaheim leads the league in penalty-killing with an 88.3 percent success rate while Winnipeg ranks 26th at 77.4 percent.
3. Winnipeg RW Joel Armia scored in Saturday's victory for his first point in eight career games.