The Edmonton Oilers are right back it this afternoon preparing to take on the Anaheim Ducks a day after dropping a 4-3 overtime decision to the Los Angeles Kings.

1. The Ducks are also in the second half of a back-to-back, having hosted the Philadelphia Flyers Saturday afternoon, falling 3-1. Lukas Dostal got the start, turning aside 22 of 24 shots, setting up John Gibson to get the start this afternoon. He’s long struggled against the Oilers, posting a 9-11 record in 23 starts, along with a 3.48 goals against average and a .893 save percentage. Calvin Pickard lines up to get the start for the Oilers.

2. Anaheim once again finds themselves in the bottom of the league, struggling to the tune of a 13-17-4 record. They’re tied with the San Jose Sharks as the worst teams on home ice, both having identical 6-11-1 records and .361 points percentage, while the Oilers are among the best on the road, with a 9-4-2 record and a .667 points percentage that has them tied for fourth.

3. Offence has been hard to come by for the Ducks this season. They scored just 81 goals in 34 games, pacing them for 195 over the full 82-game campaign. That number would also be the eighth-fewest in the franchise’s 31-year history and their fewest since 2020-21, when they had a franchise-low 124.

4. Given their struggles and seemingly perpetual rebuild, the Ducks are once again sellers…. sort of. They were buyers before sellers this year, acquiring defenceman Jacob Trouba from the New York Rangers on Dec. 6th, before sending defenceman Cam Fowler to the St. Louis Blues eight days later. Fowler’s already making his impact felt, scoring a goal and five points in six games, including a three-point performance Friday against Nashville.

5. Anaheim won’t be done selling off, either. Frank Seravalli’s latest Trade Targets board, from the end of November, has names like Frank Vatrano and Trevor Zegras on it, but other names have since creeped up in the trade market. Elliotte Friedman speculated weeks ago about Pavel Mintyukov’s status with the team, given that he’s been in and out of the lineup, despite being 21 years old and their 2022 10th overall draft pick. Could Trouba shake loose later this year with salary retained? Or what about veteran Brian Dumoulin?

Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist, making up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.

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