The Ducks defense continues to be an active part of the team's attack, led by Kevin Shattenkirk's season-opening five-game point streak (3-3=6). Shattenkirk leads all NHL blueliners in goals (three) and ranks tied for second in points.
That offense by committee approach has been especially prevalent on the power play, where the Ducks rank tied-for-second among league leaders (5-for-15, 33.3%) with five different goal scorers already on the board. All four (1-3=4) of Cam Fowler's points through five games have come on the man advantage, tying him for the league lead in power-play points by defensemen.
"We've got five guys on both units who are all capable of playing any position on the power play," Troy Terry said. "When you've got a group of guys who can all make plays, it makes us all interchangeable and it makes it fun."
Following today's game, the Ducks return home for a two-game homestand, hosting Winnipeg on Oct. 26 and Buffalo on Oct. 28.
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The Ducks pay another visit to a tough arena for a visiting team, Xcel Energy Center, after going 0-2-2 there a season ago. The Wild welcomed their fans back with an overtime win Tuesday, improving to 16-1-4 all-time in home openers at Xcel Energy Center.
Minnesota is off to a 3-0-0 start for the first time in six seasons and today looks its for its first four-game win streak to open a season since 2008-09. The Wild offense has powered the strong start, including a hat trick by Joel Eriksson Ek and a three-assist performance by Kirill Kaprizov in Tuesday's 6-5 win. Foligno and Kevin Fialia have points in each of their first three appearances.
Anaheim and Minnesota will meet a final time to conclude the three-game season series, Jan. 14 in St. Paul.
