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The Edmonton Oilers continue their four-game road trip on Wednesday night at the Honda Center against the Anaheim Ducks.
You can watch the game on Sportsnet West & One or listen live on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630 CHED.
Subscribe to Oilers+ to unlock the Pre-Game Show that will begin at 7:30 p.m. MT, along with more exclusive live and behind-the-scenes content.

YOUR GAME-DAY ESSENTIALS

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INSIDE THE OILERS

News and notes from Oilers practice on Tuesday, including Vincent Desharnais earning his first NHL call-up and potentially making his Oilers debut in Anaheim.
>> READ MORE IN THE INSIDE THE OILERS BLOG

PRE-GAME REPORT

ANAHEIM, CA - The Oilers know they can and need to perform better on special teams than they did Monday in Los Angeles.
A penalty-filled affair saw Edmonton on the man advantage six times against the Kings, but their usually-elite power-play group was held off the score sheet. On the flip side, the Kings converted on four of their seven PP opportunities, dropping Edmonton into a tie for the most power-play goals allowed in the NHL this season at 42 in 42 games.
"I think in that particular game, there were some details in our PK that they were able to expose and score on," said Oilers forward and penalty killer Mattis Janmark. "There were a lot of penalties. They score on their first PP, they get rolling a little, they get confident and were able to score way too many on us that game."
Unsurprisingly, the Oilers spent their entire practice on Tuesday working on special teams as they look to right the wrongs that occurred in Los Angeles during Wednesday's game down the freeway in Anaheim.
"You give up four goals and it's not good enough for our PK," said defenceman Darnell Nurse. "Our PP's bailed us out enough times throughout the course of the season that every once in a while, you need the PK to do that, and we've got to find a way to get those done."

PRE-RAW | Darnell Nurse 01.11.23

"We had some details we talked about yesterday, and then overall in the season it just hasn't been good enough," Janmark added. "Our PK to step up and take care of business if we want to win games."
On the PP front, the Oilers have a prime opportunity to regain their NHL-best form on Wednesday as the Ducks have also surrendered 42 goals while shorthanded this season.
DESHARNAIS DEBUT CONFIRMED
The Oilers will also get a boost on Wednesday with defenceman Vincent Desharnais expected to suit up for his first NHL game.
The 26-year-old was recalled from the AHL's Bakersfield Condors on Monday, practiced with the team on Tuesday and participated in morning skate on Wednesday as he gears up to make his Oilers debut with his parents and brother in attendance from Montreal.

PRE-RAW | Mattias Janmark 01.11.23

Desharnais was Edmonton's seventh-round selection at the 2016 NHL Draft and has spent the last six and a half seasons honing his craft with the NCAA's Providence Friars, ECHL's Wichita Thunder and AHL's Condors before earning his long-awaited call-up this week.
"It's a special day," said fellow blueliner Nurse. "His parents came in and it's a dream obviously to play at this level, but the amount of work that he's put in and it hasn't been in a straight line. He's 26, playing his first NHL game and he's put in all the hard work to get here."
Having a teammate play his first NHL game provides a little extra motivation, according to Nurse and Janmark.

PRE-RAW | Jay Woodcroft 01.11.23

"It's exciting whenever you have someone in your organization that's able to do that for the first time," Nurse said. "Hopefully he just enjoys the moment. I know it goes by in a flash, but be able to enjoy the moment, and we want to get a big win for him."
"It's always fun to see those nights happen for guys," Janmark added. "We all worked hard and we've all been there, so for sure it's an extra boost. It will be fun to watch."
With Desharnais slated to slot in on the back end, Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said Wednesday morning some "hard decisions" and certain players nursing "bumps and bruises" will dictate the personnel the team deploys against the Ducks.
As Wednesday's skate was optional, the Oilers lineup will be made public during pre-game warmup.
-- Ryan Frankson, EdmontonOilers.com

PREVIEW

OILERS at DUCKS
WATCH: 8:00 p.m. MT; televised on Sportsnet One & West
Oilers Team Scope
The Edmonton Oilers lost the special teams battle in the first game of their four-game road trip against Los Angeles on Monday after giving up four power-play goals while going 0-for-6 with the man advantage.
Kevin Fiala fired two past Stuart Skinner on the power play in the first period before Alex Iafallo scored a pair of his own with the man advantage in the middle frame. Jack Campbell replaced Skinner following LA's third goal and made 11 saves on 13 shots in relief of a 6-3 final in favour of the Kings.
The Oilers recalled goaltender Calvin Pickard from the AHL's Bakersfield Condors on Tuesday on an emergency basis while Skinner returns to Edmonton for the birth of he and his wife Chloe's first child.
Among the additional recalls was defenceman Vincent Desharnais, who led the AHL in plus/minus last season (+36) with Bakersfield and has battled through injury this season to potentially make his NHL debut on Wednesday against Anaheim.
"It's a great success story for our organization," said Head Coach Jay Woodcroft, who coached Desharnais in Bakersfield for two-and-a-half seasons. "It's a credit to people that found him, our scouts. Then he worked his way through college hockey and signed an American League deal out of the gate. He came to us in Bakersfield. He actually spent some time in Wichita his first pro year, spent about half the year up with us. I thought he kept getting better. He's someone that kept getting better, trusted his process, trusted the team's development process and took steps along the way.
"I'm not surprised to see him up here in the NHL and as a success story for our scouting staff and development staff. To be able to see him get to the NHL, everybody's proud of that. Now it's about seeing what he can do at this level. I know he's excited about being here, but he wants to stay."

RAW | Vincent Desharnais 01.10.23

Ducks Team Scope
The Anaheim Ducks had what little momentum they'd built with a two-game win streak halted by the Boston Bruins on Sunday night at the Honda Center.
With the chance to secure their first three-game win streak of the season, the Bruins bullied the Ducks with a hat trick from David Pastrnak and six milti-point nights from Boston in a 7-1 victory.
Trevor Zegras extended his scoring streak to four games with the only goal for Anaheim and has points in five of his last six appearances (2G, 4A). Zegras co-leads Anaheim in goals alongside Troy Terry and Adam Henrique, and ranks second among team leaders in scoring with 12 goals and 19 assists.
The Ducks are 3-4-1 heading into the final two games of a franchise-record 10-game homestand.

RAW | Jay Woodcroft 01.10.23

By The Numbers
The Oilers are 11-4-3 in their last 18 (since Dec. 3, 2016) vs. Anaheim, but lost their only meeting so far this season (lost 4-3 on Dec. 17)... Connor McDavid has enjoyed tremendous success in his career vs. the Ducks, posting 34 points (10G, 24A) in 21 career games, including multiple points in each of his last six games (since start of 2019-20), recording 16 points (6G, 10A)... McDavid has a point in nine straight road games vs. the Ducks (6G, 13A), dating back to Jan. 25, 2017... Leon Draisaitl has 33 points (17G, 16A) in 26 career games vs. the Ducks, including a point in six straight (6G, 9A), since start of 2019-20 (has multiple points in five of those six games)...
The Ducks are allowing a league-high 4.07 goals against per game and scoring only 2.27 goals per game, the second fewest in the NHL... They also have the second lowest power-play percentage (15.3 percent) and third lowest penalty-kill percentage (71.4 percent)... The Ducks look to avoid becoming the first team to have a bottom three PP and bottom three PK in a season since the 2019-20 Red Wings... The last team to finish last in both PP% & PK% in a season was the 2014-15 Sabres...

RAW | Jack Campbell 01.10.23

Injury Report
OILERS - Oscar Klefbom (shoulder) is on IR; Mike Smith (undisclosed) is on IR; Evander Kane (wrist) is on IR; Ryan Murray (undisclosed) is on IR.
DUCKS - Justin Kirkland (undisclosed) is day-to-day; Max Jones (upper body) is on IR; Derek Grant (lower body) is on IR; Isac Lundestrom (upper body) is on IR; Jamie Drysdale (torn shoulder labrum) is on IR; John Moore (undisclosed) is on IR.
-- Jamie Umbach, EdmontonOilers.com