Ducks end road trip against Hurricanes (Oct 29, 2017)
The Anaheim Ducks are in a good mood as they play on consecutive days for the first time this season Sunday against the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh, N.C., finishing a four-game road trip.
Anaheim (5-4-1) rebounded from an 8-3 shellacking at the hands of the Florida Panthers on Thursday with a 4-1 victory over the Lightning on Saturday, handing Tampa Bay its first loss on home ice in seven games this season. The Ducks also held the Lightning's Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov off the scoresheet, ending their 11-game point streaks to start the season.
"When you get embarrassed like that, you want to come back with a strong effort," Anaheim goaltender John Gibson told reporters after the Ducks improved to 2-1-0 on their first trip of more than one game this season. "We knew we were playing a good team so I knew we definitely had to be on our game."
Carolina (4-4-1) is coming off a 2-1 loss to St. Louis on Friday, falling to 1-2-1 at home this season and 2-3-1 in one-goal games.
"We need to learn, and we haven't done it yet, to win 1-0, to win 2-1," the Hurricanes' Justin Williams, who has a club-high five assists, told reporters. "We haven't won those games yet."
Carolina's Jeff Skinner is off to a fast start with a team-most six goals, including one Friday. Skinner, who is coming off a career-high 37-goal season, has four goals and seven points in 10 games versus Anaheim.
Anaheim brings a confident power play into Sunday's game. The Ducks were 2-for-31 with the man advantage in their first nine contests before going 2-for-2 on Saturday.
Anaheim's Rickard Rakell scored twice Saturday -- one on the power play -- to take over the team lead in goals with five. Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf recorded three assists Saturday, giving him a club-most six despite playing only five games this season.
Anaheim continues to battle injuries as defenseman Cam Fowler (knee) is expected to miss up to eight weeks and defenseman Kevin Bieksa has a hand injury. The Ducks, though, welcomed the return this week of defensemen Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatanen, who both made their season debuts after undergoing offseason shoulder surgeries.
Anaheim is also missing Ryan Kesler, who won't play until at least December as he recovers from offseason hip surgery.
Lindholm scored against Tampa Bay in his third game back while Vatanen on Saturday blocked three shots and played 17 minutes, 12 seconds in his first contest.
The Hurricanes' Teuvo Teravainen is questionable to play after sustaining an upper-body injury Friday and missing practice Saturday. His three goals are second most on the team.
Veteran goaltender Ryan Miller could make his Ducks' debut after he was activated from injured reserve Saturday. Miller signed a two-year, $4 million contract during the offseason to back up John Gibson.
Scott Darling (3-3-1, 2.70 goals-against average, .899 save percentage) is expected to start for Carolina. He is coming off a 6-3 victory in Toronto on Thursday before giving way to backup Cam Ward on Friday.
Anaheim has won six of the last seven meetings -- including three straight at PNC Arena.
