[29-44-9]
2
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12/15/2013
FINAL
[54-20-8]
123T
EDM1012
25SHOTS34
31FACEOFFS25
23HITS20
17PIM4
0/2PP0/2
7GIVEAWAYS10
5TAKEAWAYS6
17BLOCKED SHOTS7
     

Ducks look to continue home dominance against Oilers

Sunday, 12.15.2013 / 2:04 AM

OILERS (11-20-3) AT DUCKS (22-7-5)

TV: SNET-W, SNET-EDM, PRIME

Last 10: Edmonton 4-5-1; Anaheim 7-1-2

Season series: This is the first of five games between the Edmonton Oilers and Anaheim Ducks, who play twice in the final two weeks of the 2013-14 season. They played three times last season, with the Ducks winning all three. Anaheim has won nine of the past 10 meetings between the teams.

Big story: Anaheim looks to continue its franchise-best start at Honda Center, where they have not lost a game in regulation (12-0-2). Edmonton has lost three of four but are hoping to play spoiler.

Team Scope:

Oilers: Edmonton was unable to solve Roberto Loungo in a 4-0 road loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Friday. Vancouver controlled the pace early, outshooting Edmonton 14-4 in a scoreless first period. But Daniel Sedin opened the scoring in the second on the power play and three third-period goals led the Canucks, who outshot the Oilers 40-19.

"We had some extended shifts in our own zone" Oilers captain Andrew Ference said. "We didn't spend nearly enough time in their zone. Creating turnovers and having extended shifts in our end...you're going to get outshot every time."

The Oilers (6-10-2 on the road) have one regulation road win since Nov. 16 and continue a four-game road trip in Los Angeles and Colorado.

Ducks: Anaheim has won four games in a row and have suffered just one loss in regulation since Nov. 18. They haven't played since Wednesday, a 2-1 win against the Minnesota Wild. With three full days off in between games, the Ducks had an intense practice on Friday. Sunday will be their last home game before embarking on a four-game pre-Christmas road swing.

"We wanted to get back to a hard practice. This is kind of a funny month with Christmas and how many games we have on the big road trip," defenseman Cal Fowler told the team's website. "It’s important to get to the rink and get our work in. I think we did a good job of doing that today."

Anaheim has remained atop the Pacific Division despite a rash of injuries. Teemu Selanne and Daniel Winnik were both absent this week with the flu.

"We're definitely missing some key guys right now, and guys that will hopefully come back ready and strong and contribute right away...they've certainly been missed," Fowler said. "We are looking forward to getting healthy again and having a full lineup."

Who's hot: Few players are hotter than Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf. Perry has a seven-game goal-scoring streak for the Ducks and Getzlaf has 22 points in his current 15-game point streak. ... Taylor Hall has five goals in four games for the Oilers.

Injury report: Oilers forwards Steve MacIntyre, Ryan Hamilton and Tyler Pitlick are all on injured reserve with knee injuries. Richard Bachman (groin) and Ilya Bryzgalov (head) are also on IR. Corey Potter (neck) and Ryan Smyth (neck) did not play Friday. ... The Ducks have six players on IR: Defenseman Sheldon Souray (wrist), Francois Beauchemin (upper body) and Luca Sbisa (wrist), goalie Viktor Fasth (lower body) and wings Jakob Silfverberg (hand) and Mathieu Perreault (lower body).

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