PREVIEW: Oilers at Ducks
ANAHEIM, CA – The Edmonton Oilers look to conclude their four-game road trip on a high note at the Honda Center against the Anaheim Ducks on Monday night as they continue play out the final stretch of the regular season with some key players still out due of injury.
The Oilers dropped to 2-4-0 this season without both Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl after their absences continued on Saturday afternoon in a 3-0 defeat to the Los Angeles Kings. Mattias Ekholm, John Klingberg and Stuart Skinner are also included on that list of injuried players for the Oilers who are currently missing time with the hopes of being all healed up before the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Edmonton's depth helped the club assemble three straight wins before their secondary offence dried up on Saturday afternoon against a defensively strong Los Angeles team, who received 27 saves from Darcy Kuemper and goals from Kevin Fiala, Andrei Kuzmenko and Trevor Lewis to move four points clear of the Oilers for second place in the Pacific Division.
Winger Trent Frederic did finally get to make his Oilers debut after spending the last few weeks recovering from an injury he sustained prior to arriving in Edmonton at the Trade Deadline. He finished with 7:10 TOI, two shots and two hits and was minus-2 in his first game since Mar. 6 with the Boston Bruins.
The Oilers are aiming to split the season series with the Ducks following losses in two of their three meetings so far this season – a 6-2 defeat on Mar. 4 at Rogers Place and 5-3 defeat on Dec. 28 at the Honda Center. Edmonton did pick up a 3-2 home win a few days later on a Draisaitl ice-breaker with 1:35 left in regulation that broke up a 2-2 tie.
The Oilers have won eight of their last 10 games against the Ducks by a 49-24 goal margin and 11 of their last 14 meetings.
