The Ducks are coming off a 4-3 victory two nights ago against the Vegas Golden Knights, and used a similar mindset heading into the game. They remembered how one-sided it was the first time around (a 5-2 loss at T-Mobile Arena on Oct. 27), and vowed to not let it happen again.
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"There's an accountability factor, not only to ourselves, but to the other team," said Ducks head coach Dallas Eakins. "You take the game [on Friday]. It's been four-to-six weeks since Vegas kicked the crap out of us that night. You have to be accountable to that team and say that's not going to happen again. You may beat us, but this is going to be a way better game, or we're going to get the best of you tonight. That'll be the message for Philly, too."
The Ducks had chances to take control of that game in Philly - or at least claw their way back in it - but self-inflicted breakdowns proved costly.
"We didn't play great," Eakins said. "We shot ourselves in the foot numerous times that night. We need to answer back not only to ourselves and our fan base, but to the other team as well so they know we're not going to go down without a fight."
They'll be facing a Flyers team that was embarrassed last night in a 6-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center. The lopsided defeat snapped a four-game winning streak and dipped their road record this season to 8-10-1. It was the opener of a season-long six-game, 12-day road trip.
"Our execution wasn't there," Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault said to reporters after the game. "We had a real hard time making plays, whether it be with the puck or on the forecheck without the puck. We just had a very bad game all together. I've got nothing positive to say about one player tonight, and that hasn't happened to me very often this year."
The Ducks own an 18-11-8 all-time record against the Flyers, including a 9-5-5 mark at Honda Center. However, they've gone 11-3-3 against Philly since the 2007-08 season. Ryan Getzlaf's 22 points (6g/12a) paces active Ducks in career scoring vs. the Flyers. He has points in five straight home game against the Flyers (3g/5a) and has 10 points (4g/6a) in six of seven home contests.
