Winners of five of their last seven with points in six of them (5-1-1, 11 points), Anaheim is in the midst of seven consecutive games against divisional opponents. So far, the Ducks have gone 3-1-1 with upcoming games against the Flames (tonight) and LA Kings (Staples Center - January 13).
Anaheim reached the halfway point of its season two nights ago in Edmonton (team game No. 42, 2-1 shootout loss). If the past is an indication of what is to come, the Ducks are primed for a second-half surge. Anaheim leads the NHL with 583 points (270-139-43) in the second half of the season since the 2005-06 campaign, 19 points higher than second-best Pittsburgh with 564 (excludes the 2012-13 shortened season). Looking at just the last three seasons, the Ducks have gone 54-19-10 (0-0-1 this season) for a league-leading 118 points (Washington has 114).
This marks the third meeting of the season between the Ducks and Flames and the second matchup in the last eight days. The Ducks earned a 2-1 victory at Honda Center on December 29 at Honda Center with Rickard Rakell and Cam Fowler providing the goals. Following tonight's game, the two clubs will meet once more at Scotiabank Saddledome to conclude the four-game season series on Wednesday, March 21.
The Ducks own an all-time record of 57-37-9 against the Flames, including a 20-28-3 mark in Calgary. Anaheim has won 10 of the last 12 against Calgary dating to Nov. 24, 2015 (10-2-0) and is 28-9-2 since Nov. 29, 2007. Ryan Kesler (56 points, 23g/33a) and Ryan Getzlaf (56 points, 15g/41a) co-lead active Ducks in career scoring against the Flames.
The Flames enter tonight's game with a 4-4-2 mark over their last 10, but have won two in a row. Calgary erased a 2-0 first-period deficit with four unanswered goals in the second period from Micheal Ferland, Troy Brouwer, Mark Jankowski and Sean Monahan, while Mike Smith made 28 saves in a 4-3 comeback victory over the Kings on Thursday. The Flames are 11-4-0 when Monahan scores, 6-1-0 when Matthew Tkachuk scores and 5-0-0 when Jankowski scores.
