Preview: Ducks Look for Season Sweep Over Penguins

The Ducks (20-16-9, 49 points) open a five-game homestand and play their first home game of 2018 tonight against the Pittsburgh Penguins (24-19-3, 51 points) at Honda Center. (7 p.m. PT, TV: NBCSN, Radio: AM830). Anaheim enters tonight's game with points in five of its last seven games (4-2-1, nine points) and has gone 6-3-1 in its last 10 overall. The Ducks have successfully killed off 20-of-21 penalties this month, third among NHL teams in PK percentage (95.2%).

Anaheim is looking to rebound from a 3-1 loss on Monday afternoon against the Colorado Avalanche. Chris Wagner scored the lone goal for the Ducks, who came off the bye week with a 4-2 victory over the LA Kings last Saturday. Making his Ducks debut against the Avs, J.T. Brown earned an assist and finished with 15 shifts for 9:40 TOI. Andrew Cogliano (suspension) had his consecutive games played streak snapped at 830 games, the fourth-longest streak in NHL history.
Look for a sharper performance from the Ducks tonight (and here on out), according to Ducks forward Jakob Silfverberg, who says mental preparation is key for a club striving for consistency.
"A lot of it has to do with the mental preparation," Silfverberg said. "When we've struggled in games, a lot of it comes from a poor start. That can depend on different things, but a few too many times you could tell we haven't been mentally ready. It's something we've been talking about. We have to make sure we come prepared tonight."
This concludes the two-game season series between the Ducks and Penguins, which opened with a 4-0 victory for Anaheim on December 23 at PPG Paints Arena. John Gibson made 29 saves that night to lead the Ducks to their first shutout in Pittsburgh in franchise history. It marked Anaheim's second shutout against Pittsburgh and the first in over 15 years. The Ducks enter tonight's game with a 12-18-3 all-time record against the Penguins, including an 8-6-1 mark at Honda Center (6-3-1 in last 10 games). Anaheim's leading career scorers against Pittsburgh are Antoine Vermette (17 points, 9g/8a in 30 games), Ryan Getzlaf (17 points, 5g/12a in 15 games) and Corey Perry (17 points, 13g/4a in 15 games).
"It's been a while since we've been here [at home]," said Silfverberg. "We're in a position now where we start making a push. There isn't a better time to do it than at home, and it starts off with a game against Pittsburgh. We played a terrific game the last time we played them in their arena. Need to get back to that and start the homestand off the right way."
"They've been on a roll," head coach Randy Carlyle said to reporters yesterday. "They've got lots of offensive power. Their blueline is closer to what it's expected to be with [Kris] Letang and [Justin] Schultz back. You can't help but notice they have No. 87 [Sidney Crosby] and 71 [Evgeni Malkin] down the middle. They're a pretty dynamic group."
The Penguins enter tonight's contest riding a season-tying four-game winning streak and have gone 5-1 in the month of January. Crosby has recorded multi-point performances in all four victories (11 points, 3g/8a), while Phil Kessel has earned eight points (3g/5a) over that span. Veteran forward Patric Hornqvist has three goals in his last three games at Honda Center as a member of the Penguins and has seven points (4g/3a) in seven games against the Ducks in his Pens career. Rookie netminder Tristan Jarry has been in net for all four games of the club's current winning streak and enters tonight's matchup with a 9-3-2 record, 2.33 goals-against average, .923 save percentage and two shutouts.
Goaltender Matt Murray traveled with the team, but has missed the last two games for personal reasons. Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan said yesterday that Murray is a "day-to-day situation." Update:As reported by the Penguins earlier this morning, Murray (Thunder Bay, Ontario) is returning home and will miss an indefinite period of time to be with his family after his father, James Murray, passed away yesterday in Ontario.
Potential Line Combinations
Anaheim
Rakell-Getzlaf-Perry
Brown-Kesler-Silfverberg
Ritchie-Henrique-Kase
Wagner-Vermette-Boll
Lindholm-Manson
Fowler-Bieksa
Beauchemin-Montour
Gibson (starter)
Miller
Pittsburgh
Simon-Crosby-Sprong
Hagelin-Malkin-Hornqvist
Sheary-Guentzel-Kessel
Kuhnhackl-Sheahan-Reaves
Dumoulin-Letang
Maatta-Schultz
Hunwick-Oleksiak
Jarry (starter)
DeSmith