Ducks staying with Silfverberg on top line

ANAHEIM -- The Anaheim Ducks had a good thing going on their top line for a long stretch, but coach Bruce Boudreau figures it's time to change and send a message.

Boudreau replaced Dustin Penner with Jakob Silfverberg at left wing before the new year and said that will be the case again when Anaheim plays the Edmonton Oilers on Friday at Honda Center.

Penner skated on the second line with Mathieu Perreault and Teemu Selanne at the morning skate. Penner has one point in his past nine games, which led to Boudreau scratching him Dec. 31.

"We'd love him to be more consistent. And that's our goal, is to get him to be more consistent," Boudreau said. "We've talked a lot, me and Dustin, and seen video, and he knows what he has to do to be on top of his game. I know he wants to. He is really a studious player and he wants to be as good as he can all the time. Sometimes it hasn't been there."

Silfverberg is trying to find a scoring groove after he sat out 24 games with a hand injury. He recorded an assist in his previous game but overall said he's still working his way back into the season after missing almost two months.

"It's been tough," Silfverberg said. "It's hard to summarize the season so far, but I feel like I'm in the right shape right now and my hand feels great so I'm just trying to keep pushing."

Edmonton did not skate after it played Thursday.

Here are the expected lineups for the Oilers and Ducks:

OILERS

Taylor Hall - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - David Perron

Jordan Eberle - Sam Gagner - Nail Yakupov

Ryan Smyth - Boyd Gordon - Ales Hemsky

Luke Gazdic - Anton Lander - Jesse Joensuu

Justin Schultz - Andrew Ference

Jeff Petry - Nick Schultz

Anton Belov - Martin Marincin

Ilya Bryzgalov

Devan Dubnyk

Injured: Mark Arcobello (ribs), Ryan Jones (head), Philip Larsen (illness), Corey Potter (groin)

DUCKS

Jakob Silfverberg - Ryan Getzlaf - Corey Perry

Dustin Penner - Mathieu Perreault - Teemu Selanne

Kyle Palmieri - Saku Koivu - Andrew Cogliano

Matt Beleskey - Nick Bonino - Tim Jackman

Hampus Lindholm - Francois Beauchemin

Cam Fowler - Ben Lovejoy

Mark Fistric - Sami Vatanen

Jonas Hiller

Frederik Andersen

Scratched: Bryan Allen, Patrick Maroon, Daniel Winnik

Injured: Sheldon Souray (wrist), Luca Sbisa (hand), Viktor Fasth (lower body inflammation)

Notes: Hiller is trying to become the first NHL goalie to win 10 straight starts since Ray Emery from Jan. 20 to March 6, 2013.

Winnik and Allen stayed out with the extras as Boudreau appears to be giving the veterans a night off. Getzlaf did not take the optional skate.