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Stat Pack
| ANAHEIM DUCKS | versus | EDMONTON OILERS |
| 31-21-11 (73 points) | Record | 26-31-4 (56 points) |
| 4th in Pacific, 8th in West, 14th in NHL | Standings | 6th in Pacific, 13th in West, 26th in NHL |
| 2.65 | GF/GP | 2.77 |
| 2.63 | GA/GP | 3.25 |
| 17.50% | Power Play | 14.10% |
| 82.40% | Penalty Kill | 72.90% |
| TEAM | STAT | LEADERS |
| Rickard Rakell (22G) | Goals | Connor McDavid (27G) |
| Ryan Getzlaf (30A) | Assists | Connor McDavid (44A) |
| Rickard Rakell (48P) | Points | Connor McDavid (71P) |
| Rickard Rakell (6PPG) | PPG | Connor McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (4PPG) |
| Chris Wagner (2SHG) | SH | Leon Draisaitl (3SHG) |
| Cam Fowler (24:27), Ryan Getzlaf (20:59) | TOI/GP (D&F) | Oscar Klefbom (22:46); Connor McDavid (21:21) |
| J.T. Brown (54.18), Hampus Lindholm (52.90) | SAT% 5on5 (F&D) | Kailer Yamamoto (60.69) , Eric Gryba (55.15) |
| Ryan Miller | GOALIES | Al Montoya |
| 8-5-5 | Record | 1-1-1 |
| .928 | Save % | .895 |
| 25.23 | SA/GP | 21.00 |
Projected Lineups
Anaheim Ducks
Rickard Rakell - Ryan Getzlaf - Corey Perry
Andrew Cogliano - Ryan Kesler - Jakob Silfverberg
Nick Ritchie - Adam Henrique - Ondrej Kase
Chris Wagner - Derek Grant - J.T. Brown
Cam Fowler - Brandon Montour
Hampus Lindholm - Kevin Bieksa
Marcus Pettersson - Josh Manson
Ryan Miller
Reto Berra
Edmonton Oilers
Patrick Maroon - Connor McDavid - Jesse Puljujarvi
Michael Cammalleri - Leon Draisaitl - Anton Slepyshev
Milan Lucic - Ryan Strome - Ty Rattie
Jujhar Khaira - Drake Caggiula - Zack Kassian
Adam Larsson - Darnell Nurse
Oscar Klefbom - Kris Russell
Andrej Sekera - Matt Benning
Al Montoya
Cam Talbot
Preview
The Anaheim Ducks are looking to rebound back home at Honda Center after a rough performance saw them drop a 2-0 decision to the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday night. The team looked lackluster all around and was barely able to even test goalie Antti Raanta, resulting in a well-deserved donut on the scoreboard to show for it. With a team that had won four straight and is still battling to solidify their position in a playoff spot, you have to wonder how a lack of motivation and effort could even be an issue at this point.
In either case, the Ducks need to turn it around tonight when they host an Edmonton Oilers team that played last night. Both teams are on back-to-backs so there will not be any advantage given through fatigue being a factor. The Oilers are coming off a 4-3 victory over the Los Angeles Kings (thanks Oilers), so it will be up to the Ducks to play spoiler to their attempt to sweep Southern California on this road trip. The Oilers have struggled all year and are well outside a playoff spot. It has become no mystery that the Ducks struggle to beat the teams that are outside the playoffs, but they need to change that trend, as these are critical points they are leaving on the table.
The player that I will be watching in this game is Rickard Rakell. He has seemed to stall a bit offensively, and after a really rough offensive performance from the entire team last night, I expect him to be a major leader in pushing the pace offensively for Anaheim and getting pucks toward the net. Combine that with the fact that he generally plays well against the Oilers, and I will go as far to say as I can almost guarantee that you will see Rickard Rakell on the scoresheet tonight.
The Ducks penalty kill has looked much better in recent games than it had in the last few weeks, so hopefully that trend continues to improve for Anaheim. However, the power play could use a good boost, and that is another area where I will be looking at Rickard Rakell to become a leader. He seems to have a knack for finding the good open areas on the ice and I expect him to have a few good looks tonight against an Oilers defense that played yesterday.