Anaheim's defensive prowess has proved a driving force for its recent success at home, but the Ducks have also shown they're capable of pouring it on at the other end of the ice.
After its highest scoring performance of the season, Anaheim will try to take advantage of a matchup with the eliminated Vancouver Canucks on Friday night in a bid to regain the Pacific Division lead.
Anaheim (43-23-10) has allowed 19 goals while going 11-1-1 in its last 13 at home but gave up three to Calgary on Wednesday. The Ducks more than made up for it, drubbing the Flames 8-3 for their best output since a 9-1 win over Vancouver in January 2014.
Jakob Silfverberg scored twice and Ryan Kesler tallied four points as Anaheim temporarily took over first place in the division with its third consecutive overall victory. Los Angeles regained a one-point advantage with a 3-0 victory over Calgary on Thursday.
The Ducks will try to move back into first over the idle Kings on Friday by earning their 12th win in 16 games against Vancouver (28-36-13).
"It's always good. With the (1-7-2) start we had, no one expected us to be where we're at right now," Silfverberg said. "We've been doing some good things lately. We've been playing good hockey. There's a big benefit being first."
Anaheim is 2-0-2 against the Canucks in 2015-16 and 5-0-2 in the past seven home meetings, splitting the two this season. The Ducks won 4-0 in the latest visit from Vancouver on Nov. 30, and blew out New Jersey 7-1 on March 14 in one of their other recent home games.
Vancouver is heading into Orange County after a 4-2 victory in San Jose on Thursday that ended an 0-8-1 skid, its longest since 1997-98, as Jannik Hansen provided the tiebreaking goal with 5:03 remaining.
The Canucks totaled eight goals during their losing streak and five in their previous seven games while being shut out four times.
"Nine was enough games to lose," Hansen said. "We were hungry tonight and it showed. We're playing for pride."
Vancouver likely have to try to contain a bevy of productive Anaheim players to earn another win, and that list begins with Silfverberg, who has nine goals and two assists in his last nine contests.
Jamie McGinn has six goals and three assists in his last eight, and Kesler has 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in his past eight.
Silfverberg has just one goal in his last seven games against Vancouver, but McGinn has fared better with three goals and two assists in a five-game point streak versus the Canucks.
Anaheim defenseman Sami Vatanen has four goals and seven assists in his last 10 matchups. Corey Perry, owner of a season-high five-game point streak, has just one goal in his last six meetings with the Canucks.
Anaheim goaltender John Gibson is 3-0-0 with 0.67 goals-against average in three lifetime starts against Vancouver. He was forced to leave Wednesday's game following a collision with teammate Hampus Lindholm but returned to replace an ineffective Frederik Andersen at the beginning of the third period.
