Devils at Ducks
The Anaheim Ducks try to snap their longest losing streak since November when they begin a three-game homestand Monday against the New Jersey Devils, who have already defeated Los Angeles and San Jose on their three-game jaunt through California. Anaheim lost in St. Louis 5-2 on Friday and is 0-2-1 in its last three contests after a franchise-record 11-game winning streak vaulted them to the top of the Pacific Division, but has since fallen two points behind first-place Los Angeles.
"We need to get away from the game right now,'' the Ducks' Ryan Kesler told reporters after Anaheim allowed four third-period goals Friday. "... We need to re-energize. We need to come back hungry. We need to be mentally aware of how important these games are coming up.'' The Ducks' deep defensive corps could be missing two of its top six performers as Sami Vatanen missed Friday's game after getting hit in the chin during Wednesday's 3-0 loss in Colorado while Kevin Bieksa left Friday's contest with a lower-body injury. New Jersey defeated Los Angeles 2-1 in overtime Saturday and is six points behind Detroit for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with 13 games remaining. "That was a big test for us and we should be proud of the way we played (Saturday)," defenseman John Moore told reporters after scoring in the extra session to give the Devils their sixth straight victory versus the Pacific Division and a 9-1-0 record in overtime.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, MSG (New Jersey), Prime Ticket and FSN San Diego (Anaheim)
ABOUT THE DEVILS (33-29-7): Goaltender Keith Kinkaid is 2-1-0 in three starts since No. 1 Cory Schneider (knee) went down, allowing one goal over the last two games. "... Our guys are playing great in front of me. It's not necessarily anything I'm doing,'' Kinkaid told reporters after making 22 saves Saturday. New Jersey owned the No. 9 penalty-killing unit in the NHL through Saturday's games and is 8-for-8 in the last two games and 14-for-15 over the last four contests.
ABOUT THE DUCKS (37-21-9): Captain Ryan Getzlaf (team-high 53 points) has two goals in his last three games and eight of his 11 this season in the last 19 contests. Corey Perry (team-high 28 goals) hasn't scored in four straight games, matching his longest drought since going 11 contests without a goal to start the season. Frederik Andersen is expected to get the start in goal should coach Bruce Boudreau continue a recent trend of giving each of his goaltenders two consecutive starts after John Gibson played Monday versus Washington (2-1 shootout loss) and Wednesday.
OVERTIME
1. Anaheim's Rickard Rakell scored his 18th goal Friday, doubling his total from last season.
2. The Devils are 0-for-8 on the power play over their last four games while the Ducks are 1-for-9 in their last three contests after going 19-for-42 during their winning streak.
3. Anaheim has won four straight meetings, including 2-1 on Dec. 19 behind 21 saves by Andersen.