Senators at Ducks
The Anaheim Ducks' season resembles a rollercoaster ride at nearby Disneyland of late - win two, lose three, win three, lose two and win two, but it all adds up to a 7-3-2 stretch as they host the Ottawa Senators on Sunday. More importantly, Anaheim stabilized a defense that allowed 13 goals in its previous two games in a 3-2 victory over San Jose on Friday while grabbing two key points from a Pacific rival in a division that is suddenly crowded at the top.
Rickard Rakell looks to continue his fast start (11 goals in 17 games), scoring Friday after missing the previous two games with an upper-body injury and the first nine of the season recovering from abdominal surgery. “It’s been tough to watch the games from the side, obviously,” Rakell, who scored a career-high 20 goals last season, told reporters. “I think I’ve missed enough games already. It’s been going forward and I feel ready to go.” Ottawa fell to Los Angeles 4-1 on Saturday, losing for only the second time in its last seven road games and dropping to 6-2 versus the Pacific. The Senators, who lost four of their last six overall, fare well in the second contest of back-to-back games - winning all three this season - and the 30-mile bus ride from Los Angeles to Anaheim won't add to their fatigue.
TV: 4 p.m. ET, TVAS, TSN5 (Ottawa), Prime Ticket (Anaheim)
ABOUT THE SENATORS (16-10-2): Erik Karlsson (team highs of 27 points and 20 assists) played 24 minutes, 45 seconds Saturday after entering the game third in the NHL in time on ice at 27:14 per game. Defenseman Marc Methot (lower-body) returned after missing the last four games and logged 21:03 of ice time. Zach Smith snapped a 13-game scoring drought and has two points in his last two games after recording three in each of the first two months this season.
ABOUT THE DUCKS (14-9-5): Ryan Kesler continues to play like a Hart Trophy candidate with team bests of 12 goals and 24 points, and the perennial Selke Award contender leads the NHL in faceoffs won with 377. Corey Perry (23 points) has a four-game point streak (goal, four assists) which includes his fifth tally of the season after the owner of 335 career goals went 18 games without one. Captain Ryan Getzlaf is among the league leaders in assists with 20, but didn't record one in the last two games after picking up four in the previous three contests, and his two goals indicate he may not reach double figures for the first time in his career.
OVERTIME
1. Anaheim's Antoine Vermette leads the NHL in faceoff winning percentage at 65.7 while Kesler's 59.8 rate is fifth among regular faceoff men.
2. Ottawa allowed three power-play goals Saturday for the second time in six games after killing 17-of-18 short-handed situations in the four contests between.
3. Anaheim swept the two-game season series in 2015-16 and won six of the last eight meetings.