The Anaheim Ducks and Edmonton Oilers have had plenty of late-game

The Anaheim Ducks and Edmonton Oilers have had plenty of late-game fireworks in recent meetings.The Pacific Division rivals should be just as desperate for a win when they meet for the first time this season on Friday afternoon at Honda Center.Edmonton (10-10-1) will be playing its second game since coach Todd McLellan was fired on Tuesday and immediately replaced by Ken Hitchcock. The Oilers overcame three deficits on the road and beat the San Jose Sharks 4-3 in overtime in Hitchcock’s debut on Tuesday night Carl Soderberg Jersey , their second win in eight games.Article continues below ...“I told them I would coach them hard and they really embraced that,” Hitchcock told reporters after the win. “They have a lot of fun and they’re a loud group and that’s a good thing.”The Ducks (9-9-5) will be trying to ride the momentum of their previous game as well.Anaheim defeated the visiting Vancouver Canucks 4-3 on Wednesday night, just its second regulation win in the past 16 games.The Ducks have earned enough points in that stretch, while taking advantage of the downturns by other Pacific Division teams, to move into third in the division. Over the past dozen years, about 75 percent of teams holding playoff spots at Thanksgiving have gone on to qualify for the postseason.“We’re taking small steps right now,” said Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf, who has two points in each of the past two games. “We’re getting better and better. We’re going to continue to build and try to get this group pushing the right way every night and every shift.”Anaheim and Edmonton have appeared evenly matched the past two seasons.In seven of the past eight regular-season games between Anaheim and Edmonton, the outcome has been decided by one goal, including five that went past regulation.The Ducks also won a tight seven-game series against the Oilers in the 2017 Western Conference Quarterfinals. That series turned after the Ducks erased a 3-0 deficit in Game 5, scoring three goals in the final 3:16 with their goalie pulled for an extra attacker. The Ducks then won 4-3 in double-overtime to take a 3-2 series lead.In the third of four meetings between the teams last season, Anaheim forward Rickard Rakell scored two goals in the final 21 seconds of the third period with the goalie pulled, but Edmonton prevailed 6-5 in the shootout.In their final meeting last season, Adam Henrique scored with 1:29 left in regulation and the Anaheim net empty Gabriel Landeskog Jersey Kids , tying the game 4-4. The Ducks won in overtime on a goal by defenseman Hampus Lindholm, part of a 10-1-1 finish by the Ducks that allowed them to finish second in the Pacific Division.Lindholm has missed the past two games with an upper-body injury, and Cam Fowler, the second-most seasoned defenseman for the Ducks, was struck by a puck Nov. 12 against the Nashville Predators and had surgery Friday to repair multiple facial fractures.Anaheim has had to insert two more rookie defenseman into the lineup since those injuries, Andy Welinski and Josh Mahura, who joined two other rookie defensemen already in the lineup, Marcus Pettersson and Jacob Larsson. TORONTO — The Detroit Red Wings will return to the Scotiabank Arena Sunday night, slightly more than two weeks after defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 there in overtime.The Maple Leafs scored three third-period goals to tie that game, Dec. 6., but the Red Wings came away with the two points on Dylan Larkin’s overtime goal.The Red Wings (15-17-5) have had little success since, going 2-5-1 including a 2-1 loss Saturday afternoon to the Florida Panthers at Little Caesars Arena.Article continues below ...The Maple Leafs (24-10-2) have gone 4-2-1 since that game, including a 5-3 victory over the New York Rangers on Saturday night with Mitch Marner scoring two goals and adding an assist.The game Sunday will be the third meeting this season between the teams. Toronto won 5-3 in Detroit Oct. 11.After winning against the Hurricanes at Carolina Thursday night, the Red Wings fell behind the Panthers early Saturday http://www.officialavalanche.com/authentic-adidas-j.t.-compher-jersey , and never really recovered. They were 0-for-4 on the power play, with two of the opportunities coming in the third period.“Another frustrating loss,” said Red Wings left winger Thomas Vanek, who scored his fifth of the season. “We need to score, I need to score more. It’s no secret about that. Sometimes it takes a little while for us to get going, and once we get going, we get those chances, but it takes 10 or 12 scoring chances to get something. We get two power plays in the third and got some good looks, but good looks aren’t good enough when you’re losing games.”“We had enough opportunities in the game, we have to score,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “The power play, overall in the game, three of the four, were good. The third one was no good Youth Matt Nieto Jersey , the first of the third period. That was no good at all. But three of them were good, we had good looks and chances, but we didn’t score.”The Red Wings, already depleted by injuries, had more bad news before the game. Center Andreas Athanasiou (upper body), who was hurt in the victory over the Hurricanes at Carolina on Thursday was not able to play against Florida and is not expected to be ready to play Sunday.The Maple Leafs who were without left winger Zach Hyman, who has a sprained ankle, lost left winger Tyler Ennis during the game Saturday with a broken ankle.“So, he’s out for a while,” Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. “We’ll figure out what we’re doing tonight. We’ve only got 11 forwards, so we’ll have to do something here.”Ennis had seven goals and four assists in 33 games.“He was coming on, right?” Babcock said. “His year didn’t go as good as he wanted last year, and he was starting to come so it’s unfortunate. As you guys know it’s all part of hockey. You’ve got to have a lot of depth to have success.”Marner has 12 goals and 38 assists this season with six of his goals coming in the past four games.“I think I’m just thinking more of shooting,” Marner said. “Getting to the net more and Mikko Rantanen Jersey , when you get around that net, I think chances come more often so that’s just something I’ve been trying to focus on recently. I think also Hyman, John Tavares and now (Andreas Johnsson), all three of those guys can move the puck very well. For me, it’s just getting to the front of the net and try and bang in those second opportunities.” “Every night he’s one of our best players, if not the best player,” Babcock said. “He works really hard, he’s really good defensively, he does it right. In the end, if you do it right, you get rewarded. He’s getting rewarded.”