The Ducks take their northwest road trip beyond the border today, facing off with the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place.
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Anaheim moves on to the Canadian portion of its five-game trek after dropping both ends of a two-game set with Seattle this week. The Ducks were shutout 4-0 in the first game, but worked to a 2-1 third-period lead in the second, only for a slew of penalty troubles to ultimately prove the difference in the loss.
“I think the work ethic was there, but we kind of take ourselves out of the game by taking way too many penalties,” winger Jakob Silfverberg said. “Especially in the third, we have a 2-1 game, and then we just have a parade going to the box. Obviously, that’s not going to make your case easier for winning games.”
The Ducks allowed four power-play goals in the two losses and were shorthanded a season-high 10 times in Thursday's game.
"You're never going to win any games taking that many penalties," Silfverberg said. "Going into the game, we talked about execution and work ethic. I think the work ethic was there...But, we spent the whole second half of the third in the box. Can't have a parade to the penalty box."
Anaheim's offense on Thursday came on one of those Seattle's power plays, two shorthanded goals scored by Silfverberg and Isac Lundestrom just 44 seconds apart.
"We've been making some changes over the last three games, going into a diamond more like other teams play," Silfverberg said of the penalty kill. "We're not moving as much, so it does help create offense when the chances do come...At the end of the day, we gave up a couple, so it evens out."
The Ducks now meet the Oilers, and their new duo of familiar faces, for the finale of a four-game season series. Edmonton has claimed each of the first three meetings, most recently a 5-3 victory in February at Honda Center.
Since then, Anaheim dealt forwards Adam Henrique and Sam Carrick to Edmonton at the NHL Trade Deadline in exchange for a 2024 first-round pick and a conditional 2025 fifth-round selection. Henrique has scored three goals with a +2 rating in his first 11 games as an Oiler.
The Oilers enter play Saturday afternoon with points in eight of their last 10 games (6-2-2), including a massive 4-1 victory over the Kings on Thursday. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl each had three points in the win, which put five points between Los Angeles and Edmonton in the Western Conference playoff race.
“We are trying to build something here in this room and just trying to be a part of wins, and that is what we are focused on coming down the stretch,” McDavid told NHL.com's Gerry Moddejonge.
Edmonton (44-23-4, 92 points) sits second in the Pacific Division, six points back of first-place Vancouver.
