Ducks at Canucks
The Anaheim Ducks are 12-2-1 in their last 15 games and try to continue their meteoric rise in the Pacific Division when they conclude a season-long seven-game road trip Thursday against the Vancouver Canucks. Anaheim defeated Edmonton 5-3 on Tuesday for its third straight victory while extending its point streak to five games and climbing into second place, three points behind Pacific-leading Los Angeles with three games remaining against its southern California rival.
After spending much of the season as the lowest-scoring team in the NHL, the Ducks have exploded for 58 goals - or nearly four per game - during their recent run. "I think the last couple of times we've been tied in the second, we've been able to step it up a little bit and get enough for the win," Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau told reporters. "When you can do that, that's a real positive sign going forward. I think we couldn't do that at the beginning (of the year), once a team got a goal up on us, we weren't very good." Vancouver dropped each of the first two contests of its three-game homestand 5-2 - the latest to Minnesota on Monday - and sits six points out of a wild-card spot in the Western Conference after losing its fifth straight at home (0-4-1) while scoring seven goals during that span. "You want to be buyers at the trade deadline (Feb. 29) and we want to put ourselves in a position to make the playoffs," Canucks defenseman Dan Hamhuis told reporters. "We certainly don't want to put ourselves into position where everyone is talking about a rebuild."
TV: 10 p.m. ET, Prime Ticket, FSN San Diego (Anaheim), Sportsnet Pacific (Vancouver)
ABOUT THE DUCKS (29-19-8): Anaheim had five different goal-scorers Tuesday including defenseman Hampus Lindholm, who tallied for the second consecutive contest to set a career high for a season with eight. David Perron continues to thrive on a line centered by captain Ryan Getzlaf (team-high 38 assists) with three goals in his last four games and six in 13 contests to go along with seven assists since being acquired from Pittsburgh. Goaltender John Gibson missed the last two games after taking a knee to the head during a collision in Chicago on Saturday and remains day-to-day.
ABOUT THE CANUCKS (22-22-12): Vancouver is only 9-12-5 at home and Daniel Sedin, who leads the team in goals (22) and points (46), knows why. "On the road we focus on defense, each and every guy,” Sedin told reporters. “We take care of defense first and we’ll take the chances we get. At home there’s too many guys trying to produce and push for offense. It’s pretty obvious. We are a different team on the road than we are at home.” If the Canucks continue to struggle, Radim Vrbata is a candidate to be moved at the trade deadline, but he hasn't scored in 12 games and has 11 goals this season after recording 31 in 2014-15.
OVERTIME
1. The Ducks have won five straight against the Pacific Division.
2. Anaheim, which is 5-for-10 on the power play in its last three games, has fallen from No. 1 to No. 3 in penalty killing after yielding seven power-play goals in 22 chances over the last five contests.
3. Vancouver won two of the first three of five meetings this season, including 2-1 in a shootout Jan. 1.