Anaheim is coming off a resounding 5-0 victory two nights ago against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena. Five different Ducks scored in the win, including Antoine Vermette, who recorded the 5,000th goal in franchise history at the 20-second mark of the third period. Rickard Rakell scored in his career-best sixth consecutive game, the longest current streak in the NHL. Only Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov (7) has a longer streak in the NHL this season (Calgary's Johnny Gaudreau and Minnesota's Nino Niederreiter also had 6). Ryan Getzlaf put together another dominant performance on the offensive side, finishing with a goal and two assists to give him seven points (1g/6a) over his last three games. In his return to Vancouver, veteran goaltender Ryan Miller earned his second shutout of the season and the 41st of his career to give him sole possession of second place all-time among U.S.-born goaltenders.
Surprisingly, this marks the first time the Ducks and Oilers have faced one another since the Second Round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs (Game 7 was held on May 10 at Honda Center). This is the opener of a four-game season series and the first of two in Edmonton. The Ducks have posted a 55-36-10 all-time record against the Oilers along with a 25-19-6 mark in Edmonton. Getzlaf paces active Ducks in career scoring against the Oilers with 47 points (17g/30a) in 44 games. The season series will shift to Honda Center for a pair of games on Friday, February 8 and Sunday, February 25 before wrapping up in Edmonton on Sunday, March 25.
The Oilers enter tonight's game with four consecutive losses (0-3-1) and have been shutout in their last two games by identical 5-0 scores, both on home ice. Their most recent loss occurred two nights ago against the LA Kings, which included a match penalty for former Ducks left wing Patrick Maroon. The rugged forward was ejected from the game when he made contact with the head of Kings defenseman Drew Doughty near the end of the second period, resulting in a five-minute power play for the Kings. (LA scored three times on the man advantage). Maroon was suspended two games by the NHL's Department of Player Safety.
Oilers head coach Todd McLellan didn't mince words after the game when he spoke of his team's penalty kill, which ranks last in the league. "It sucks the life out of us," he said in a story published on the team's official website. "We were okay for two periods, made a mistake and they scored. But the major penalty, it sucked the life out of us."
Edmonton currently sits in sixth place in the Pacific Division, nine points out of a playoff spot. Team captain Connor McDavid does not have a point in his last three games - the longest drought of his NHL career. Nevertheless, the 20-year-old center still leads the Oilers in scoring with 45 points (14g/31a) in 40 games. Leon Draisaitl enters the game with 32 points (10g/22a) in 36 games, but has feasted on the Ducks in his career. The 22-year-old Cologne, Germany native has eight goals and 13 points in 12 regular-season games against Anaheim, including six goals and eight points in the five-game season series in 2016-17.
