Ducks out to stop Oilers' bid for five-game streak
NHL.com
DUCKS (13-13-3) at OILERS (10-12-4)
TV: TSN (HD), PRIME (HD)
Last 10: Anaheim 3-6-1; Edmonton 6-3-1
Season series -- Second of four meetings this season. Edmonton snapped a six-game losing streak in the first meeting on Nov. 21 in Anaheim as second-year goalie Devan Dubnyk made 38 saves. Ales Hemsky's goal 13:29 into the third snapped a 2-2 tie before Tom Gilbert hit into an empty net to seal the victory for the Oilers.
Big story -- Oilers rookie Taylor Hall scored his second game-winning goal of the season in dramatic fashion on Saturday when the No. 1 pick in the 2010 Entry Draft connected 23 seconds into overtime to secure a 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues. Hall has 6 goals in his last eight games. The victory extended Edmonton's winning streak to four games.
Team Scope:
Ducks -- The Ducks welcomed right wing
Joffrey Lupul back to the lineup on Sunday against Phoenix for the first time since Dec. 8, 2009, after he was cleared to play by team doctors and activated off the club's long-term injury list. Back surgery and a subsequent blood infection kept Lupul out of the lineup. He suffered a setback in July and was forced to stay off the ice for roughly three months. On a conditioning stint for AHL Syracuse, Lupul went 1-3-4 in three games. In his return, Lupul, who began the game on a line with
Saku Koivu and
Jason Blake, earned 14:28 of ice time, had three shots on goal and a minus-1 rating.
Oilers -- Edmonton utilized three different goalies in recording three straight victories on the road last week. Martin Gerber earned a 4-1 victory over Ottawa behind 22 saves on Nov. 29, Dubnyk stopped 36 shots in a 4-3 overtime triumph in Montreal on Dec. 1 and Nikolai Khabibulin halted 33 shots in a 5-0 verdict over Toronto on Dec. 2. The threesome yielded just four goals on 95 shots. Khabibulin was right back in goal for the team's 2-1 home victory in overtime over the Blues on Saturday and made 31 saves.
Who's hot -- Edmonton defenseman Ryan Whitney has a team-leading 21 points -- all assists. He ranks among the top-10 point-producers in the League and is the only player among the top 30 to not have a goal. … Ducks forward
Bobby Ryan has produced 6 goals in his last 6 games and 9 goals and 14 points in his last 16 games.
Injury report -- Edmonton's Alex Hemsky (groin) is day-to-day. … Anaheim right wing
Teemu Selanne (groin) is day-to-day.
Stat pack -- Selanne is one of only 18 players in NHL history to score 600 goals (614) and one of only three Europeans, along with Jaromir Jagr (646) of the Czech Republic and Jari Kurri (601) of Finland.
Puck drop -- "It's more or less the same questions, how the first year is going for me and the team," Hall told reporters following his OT winner against the Blues on Saturday. "People are interested in that, it's a good story line. We have three rookies, pretty much a whole line of rookies. Not a lot of teams can say they have that possible future. It's fun. It's good to have a lot of excitement around the team, we're an up and coming team, I think everybody knows that."