Anaheim Ducks vs Colorado Avalanche
When: 9:00 PM ET, Thursday, January 12, 2017
Where: Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado

TV: 9 p.m. ET, FSN Prime Ticket (Anaheim), Altitude2 (Colorado)
PREDICTION: Ducks 4, Avalanche 2

Oddsmakers currently have the ANAHEIM listed as -165-moneyline favorites versus the COLORADO, while the game’s total is sitting at 5.

DENVER — The Colorado Avalanche hope to end their five-day break the same way it started — with a win on home ice.

Those have been rare for Colorado, which ended a 10-game winless streak at Pepsi Center with a 2-1 overtime win against the New York Islanders on Friday. That preceded the team’s five-day hiatus that every NHL team will experience before the end of February.

Now the Avalanche (13-25-1) are back to work and have a tough task ahead when they host the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night. The Ducks are in strong playoff contention and playing like a postseason team. They are coming off a 2-0 win over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday and have won four of their past five games.

Goaltender Josh Gibson got his third shutout of the season and second in four games in the win over the Stars, which preceded a two-game trip that ends in Arizona on Saturday night.

The good news for Anaheim (22-13-8) is it might get back forward Ryan Getzlaf. He has been out since sustaining a lower-body injury against the Philadelphia Flyers on New Year’s Day but tested it before Tuesday’s game. The Ducks decided to hold him out for one more game in the hopes that he will be available against Colorado.

“I feel pretty good,” Getzlaf told The Orange County Register. “For the most part, there’s a couple little things here and there that still have to come along. I don’t know if that’s just tentativeness or if it’s actual pain and those kinds of things. So we’ll see.”

Colorado’s break ended with a 4 p.m. local time practice at its practice facility on Wednesday. It was the first time the public could watch Nathan MacKinnon on the ice after he was named the team’s representative to the NHL All-Star Game. It is his first time being an NHL All-Star.

The honor is a little consolation in a season that has gone south for the Avalanche since they were 9-9-0 in November. Friday’s win was their first at Pepsi Center since beating the Los Angeles Kings on Nov. 15, and the frustration was apparent for the players.

“It was a long time coming,” MacKinnon said after the victory over the Islanders. “It’s been tough at home, it’s been tough in general, obviously. Wins haven’t been easy to get, and obviously we have a lot of work to do still, but it definitely feels good to win.”

Anaheim has two All-Star Game representatives — forward Ryan Kesler and defenseman Cam Fowler.

The Ducks are trying something new on this two-game road trip. While it has become vogue for teams to host “dad trips” when players’ fathers join the team on the road, Anaheim is hosting a “siblings trip” to Colorado and Arizona.

The Ducks are accompanied by a group of 14 that includes eight sisters, five brothers and one mother.

“We think it’s an opportunity for their families to experience what the ‘prized one’ in the family is doing for a living,” Ducks coach Randy Carlyle told the team website. “I’m sure they’re all excited and hopefully they have a good time and we have some success, where the players take on the motto of win one for my brother or my sister or my mother.”

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Detroit Red Wings vs. Anaheim Ducks
When: 10:30 PM  ET, Wednesday, January 4, 2017
Where: Honda Center, Anaheim, California

TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, FSN Detroit, FSN West (Anaheim)
PREDICTION: Ducks 4, Red Wings 2

Oddsmakers currently have the DETROIT listed as -moneyline favorites versus the ANAHEIM, while the game’s total is sitting at .

ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Detroit Red Wings haven’t scored a power-play goal on the road since Oct. 17 and are 1-for-36 overall in the last nine games heading into their matchup Wednesday night at the Anaheim Ducks.

The man-advantage slump has dropped the Red Wings into last in the NHL in power-play efficiency at 11.7 percent, a steep drop after they finished 13th last season (18.8).

“That really is crazy,” Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall told the Detroit Free Press. “If you get one or two, it’s a different game. That is going to be the biggest key. Moving forward, we have to get our power play going.”

Detroit, which is 3-5-2 in its last 10 games, made a slight change to its power play during practice Tuesday, replacing Riley Sheahan on the second unit with Steve Ott, who worked with fellow forwards Anthony Mantha and Tomas Tatar.

The Ducks featured the top power play in the NHL last season at 23 percent and currently sit No. 2 behind the Columbus Blue Jackets, converting on 24 percent of their man-advantage opportunities.

Anaheim may have to play Detroit without one of its key players on the power play, as team captain Ryan Getzlaf left Sunday’s shootout victory against the visiting Philadelphia Flyers with a lower-body injury.

Getzlaf received treatment while the rest of the team practiced Tuesday morning and showed improvement, according to assistant Coach Paul MacLean, but remains day-to-day.

“We’ll come in tomorrow and see where he is,” MacLean said.

As insurance, the Ducks recalled forward Chris Wagner from their American Hockey League affiliate in San Diego. Wagner, 25, has two goals in 21 games with Anaheim this season, as well as four goals 11 games with San Diego.

Detroit defenseman Mike Green still has not returned to the ice since he suffered an upper-body injury in a 6-4 win against the Ducks on Dec. 17 in Detroit. Green is one of seven Red Wings players currently on injured reserve.

Detroit center Darren Helm skated Tuesday, but remains week-to-week with a shoulder injury that’s already sidelined him 20 games. Justin Abdelkader also skated but the veteran left wing will likely miss his 14th straight game with a knee injury.

Ducks goaltender John Gibson tied a franchise record while stopping 51 shots in Sunday’s win against the Flyers and turned away four of five in the shootout. He would normally be due for a break, but backup Jonathan Bernier struggled against the Red Wings last month, allowing four goals on 21 shots before he was pulled in favor of Gibson.

Bernier then surrendered five goals three days later at the Montreal Canadiens. His only appearance since then was a four-minute stint against the Flyers on Sunday, when he replaced Gibson after the Flyers had scored their third goal of the game early in the second period. Bernier made one save before Gibson returned and blanked the Flyers the rest of the way.

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Ottawa Senators vs. Anaheim Ducks
When: 4:00 PM ET, Sunday, December 11, 2016
Where: Honda Center, Anaheim, California

TV: 4 p.m. ET, TVAS, TSN5 (Ottawa), Prime Ticket (Anaheim)
PREDICTION: Ducks 3, Senators 2

ANAHEIM, Calif. — All four principals in one of the most significant trades in both teams’ history likely will take the ice in the same game for the first time when the Anaheim Ducks meet the Ottawa Senators on Sunday at the Honda Center.

Senators winger Bobby Ryan returns to the city where he began his NHL career to face fellow wingers Jakob Silfverberg, Nick Ritchie and Stefan Noesen, now property of the Ducks.

Ryan was Anaheim’s first selection and the second overall in the 2005 NHL draft. The native of Cherry Hill, N.J., joined the Ducks in 2007 and scored at least 30 goals in four consecutive seasons between 2008 and 2012. But managing the salary cap meant trading Ryan in July 2013 for Silfverberg, Noesen and Ottawa’s first draft choice in the 2014 draft, the 10th overall selection, which Anaheim used on Ritchie.

Since arriving in Canada’s capital, Ryan has yet to have the kind of offensive success he enjoyed playing on the same line as center Ryan Getzlaf and right winger Corey Perry. Now 29, Ryan accumulated as many as 23 goals for the Senators in 2013-14 and 56 points last season. Both totals fall short of his highs with the Ducks.

This season, Ryan has only three goals and eight points after 23 games. He sustained a bone bruise on one of his fingers Nov. 17 against the Nashville Predators. He missed five of the ensuing nine games and before returning to the lineup Wednesday night in San Jose.

Senators General Manager Pierre Dorion considered making a trade if Ryan were unavailable for an extended period.

“It does take pressure off, because when Bobby first got hurt, we didn’t know the extent of it,” Dorion told the Ottawa Citizen. “For awhile there, we thought it could be long-term. I made a few calls, but we’re very happy with our depth and the guys we’ve called up have done a good job, whether it’s up front or on defense. I’m still making calls, but with Bobby back, there might not be as much need immediately.”

Meanwhile, Silfverberg found a home on the right side of the Ducks’ most consistent line, which includes center Ryan Kesler and left winger Andrew Cogliano. Silfverberg owns a reputation as a solid two-way forward as the 26-year-old Swede ranks third on the team with eight goals and leads Anaheim with a plus-9 rating.

Ritchie, who turned 21 on Monday, is on pace to finish with 18 goals as a left winger after being shuttled between the Ducks and their AHL affiliate in San Diego last season. Ritchie has played with Getzlaf and Perry on the first line and on the third line as a physical presence with skill.

Noesen, promoted from San Diego on Wednesday, made his season debut that night against the Carolina Hurricanes and scored his first NHL goal in his third career appearance. In San Diego the previous night, Noesen scored the tying goal with 9.3 seconds left in regulation, as the Gulls earned a 4-3 overtime victory against Bakersfield.

“It’s definitely surreal,” Noesen said of the timing. “I’m happy to be here.”

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Carolina Hurricanes vs. Anaheim Ducks
When: 10:30 PM ET, Wednesday, December 7, 2016
Where: Honda Center, Anaheim, California

TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, FSN Carolina, FSN West (Anaheim)
PREDICTION: Ducks 4, Hurricanes 1

Oddsmakers currently have the Ducks listed as 170-moneyline favorites versus the Hurricanes, while the game’s total is sitting at 5.

ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Carolina Hurricanes will miss one of their leaders when they begin their road trip in California on Wednesday night against the Anaheim Ducks at the Honda Center.

Center Jordan Staal, one of the team’s three alternate captains, has not recovered from a concussion he suffered Nov. 27 in a 3-2 victory against the Florida Panthers. Staal skated at the Hurricanes’ training complex in Raleigh, N.C., on Monday but as coach Bill Peters told the Raleigh News & Observer, “it didn’t go great.”

Staal will have missed seven consecutive games once the trip ends. Carolina faces the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night and finishes the trip against the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night.

Staal’s absence puts more pressure on an offense that scored only 58 goals, the second-lowest total in the Eastern Conference. In their past five road games, the Hurricanes have only seven.

“We have to find a way to score more,” Peters told NHL.com. “We’ve got to be willing to do the right things in order to score. I want to see more guys in the blue paint. I want to see guys making it harder on the goaltender. If we do that, we’ll be successful.”

For Carolina defenseman Justin Faulk, doing the right things goes beyond getting more guys in the blue paint of the goal crease.

“It’s not necessarily just the guys in front,” Faulk told NHL.com. “It’s getting shots from the inside, being able to work to get inside the dots and create chances ‘in the house.’ To generate more offense and score more goals, we’ve got to be able to work our way inside and make it tough on them.”

Backup goalie Eddie Lack will also stay behind because of a concussion but forward Elias Lindholm and defenseman Ryan Murphy will make the trip. Lindholm missed the past two games because of a lower-body injury, and Murphy finished his conditioning assignment with Charlotte of the AHL.

Meanwhile, the Ducks are concerned about goalie John Gibson and left winger Rickard Rakell, their second-leading goal scorer. Both missed Sunday’s 8-3 rout by the Calgary Flames. Gibson had the flu while Rakell nursed an upper-body injury. Both skated in Tuesday’s practice, with Rakell wearing a non-contact jersey.

“I’m starting to feel better,” Rakell told NHL.com and added that he is “just taking it day by day, hoping it gets even better tomorrow.”

If Rakell cannot play, Nick Ritchie likely would take over his spot on the Ducks’ top line with center Ryan Getzlaf and right winger Corey Perry.

Anaheim’s quest for consistency collides with a quick opponent seeking only its fourth road win this season.

“We’re going to have to be ready for a Carolina team that can really skate and push the pace of play,” defenseman Cam Fowler told NHL.com. “They have an aggressive style of play. Some teams will set up in a neutral-zone trap or a controlled forecheck, but they don’t really do that. If they have an opportunity to pressure the puck, they will. They rely on their skating to get them back into games.”

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Instead, the Chicago Blackhawks showed the Ducks just how far they still are from the Stanley Cup Final.

Jonathan Toews scored two goals in the opening minutes, Corey Crawford made 35 saves and Chicago won the Western Conference title with a 5-3 victory Saturday night.

After six games of tense hockey in an extraordinary series, Game 7 was an incongruous rout. Toews was responsible for it, burnishing his reputation for big-game brilliance with a rebound goal just 2:23 in and another power-play score before 12 minutes elapsed.

”We took another step this year, going a round farther, but ultimately that Game 7 we’ve got to be able to finish,” Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf said. ”They played better than us tonight. I’m not telling you they are a better team than us. We didn’t do enough to win.”

Frederik Andersen gave up three goals on Chicago’s first seven shots, and the Ducks eventually fell behind 4-0 before Ryan Kesler scored late in the second period. Corey Perry and Matt Beleskey added late goals, but Anaheim lost a Game 7 at home for the third straight season – an NHL record.

The Ducks have blown a 3-2 series lead for three straight years, compounding the heartbreak for a talented team that hasn’t developed the postseason poise possessed by Chicago and other champions.

”Last year was a tough loss, (and) this year was even worse,” Ducks forward Patrick Maroon said. ”We’re one game away. We had them on the ropes. We’re going up 3-2 in their barn. You saw what happened there. Then we’re looking better because we have home-ice advantage and can play in front of our fans, and … I don’t know. I have no words.”

The collapse came abruptly for Anaheim, which went a record-tying 14 games into the postseason without a regulation defeat until losing the last two games by a combined 10-5. The Ducks finished one game shy of their first Stanley Cup Final since 2007.

Anaheim’s postgame salute to the fans was as funereal as its dressing room moments later while the players stewed in the knowledge of an opportunity wasted.

”We worked all season to have Game 7 in our building, and it’s a pretty empty feeling right now,” defenseman Cam Fowler said. ”I feel like we let the fans down and let the people around us down. It’s not a fun feeling right now. That’s the best I can explain.”

Brandon Saad, Marian Hossa and Brent Seabrook also scored for the Blackhawks, who will play for their third NHL championship in six seasons when they face the Tampa Bay Lightning beginning Wednesday night in Florida.

Patrick Kane had three assists for Chicago, which won three of the series’ final four games to seize another Western Conference title – although the Blackhawks refused to touch the Campbell Bowl during an awkward postgame ceremony punctuated by fans throwing orange towels on the ice.

”There was no easy games,” Toews said. ”There was nothing given to us. (At) no moments in this series were there any lulls, where we felt Anaheim maybe didn’t play their best hockey and we got away with it. We felt like we had to earn everything against that team. That was an incredible test for both teams.”

The Blackhawks have defied conventional NHL parity to reach three Stanley Cup Finals and five conference finals in a seven-year stretch under coach Joel Quenneville. That’s because their stars are unmatched: From Toews and Kane to Seabrook and Duncan Keith, nobody knows how to win like Chicago’s big names.

The Blackhawks bounced back this season after their Game 7 loss to the Kings in last spring’s conference finals. Chicago outlasted Nashville and swept Minnesota this spring before outlasting Anaheim in the franchises’ first playoff meeting.

Keith had two assists while completing the series with a jaw-dropping 230 minutes, 48 seconds of ice time for a team largely relying on four defensemen.

Three days after Chicago staved off elimination with a 5-2 win at home, Toews somehow managed to top his last appearance at Honda Center. He tied Game 5 on Monday with two electrifying goals in the final minutes before Anaheim won in overtime.

Captain Serious showed how much he thought of Game 7 pressure when he scored just 2:23 in. Niklas Hjalmarsson’s long shot rebounded straight to Toews, who scored his fourth goal of the series when the Ducks inexplicably failed to mark him.

Anaheim immediately showed tension in its game, perhaps remembering its three-goal first period deficit in a Game 7 loss to the Los Angeles Kings last spring. After Jakob Silfverberg took a hooking penalty midway through the period, Toews capitalized with a high shot through traffic, getting it through Saad’s screen in front.

NOTES: Getzlaf and Francois Beauchemin both played in their 97th postseason game with the Ducks, surpassing Teemu Selanne’s franchise record. … Tomas Fleischmann returned to Anaheim’s lineup, and Emerson Etem was scratched. … Chicago improved to 32-0 this season when leading after two periods.

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Calgary at Anaheim
When: 10:00 PM ET, Sunday, May 10, 2015
Where: Honda Center, Anaheim, California
TV: 10 p.m. ET, NBCSN, RSN, TVA
PREDICTION: Ducks 5, Flames 2
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Oddsmakers currently have the Ducks listed as 215-moneyline favorites versus the Flames, while the game’s total is sitting at 5½.

Anaheim was a 4-2 winner in its last match on the road against the Flames. They won as -140 favorites, while the total score of 6 made winners of OVER bettors.

Calgary is winless in four trips to Honda Center in 2014-15, scoring a total of six goals in the defeats. Mikael Backlund, who scored in overtime of Game 3, believes the Flames are due. “At some point, you’ve got to win there,” he said. “Things are going to happen if you play well, and I think this year we haven’t played a good full 60 minutes there. If we find a way to play a real solid 60 minutes, we have a chance to win.”

Team record: 50-35-7
Calgary is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Calgary’s last 5 games
Calgary is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games on the road
Calgary is 2-6 SU in its last 8 games when playing Anaheim

Matt Beleskey’s hand remained hot Friday as he snapped a 2-2 tie during a power play early in the third period, giving him a goal in each game of the series. The four-game streak matches the franchise playoff record set in 2009 by Corey Perry and equaled two years later by Teemu Selanne. Beleskey, who set career highs during the regular season with 22 goals and 32 points, led the team with eight game-winning tallies and tops the club again with two this postseason.

Team record: 58-24-8
Anaheim is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Anaheim’s last 6 games
Anaheim is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games at home
Anaheim is 6-2 SU in its last 8 games when playing Calgary

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The NHL is increasing its popular outdoor games, which in the past had been limited to on or around New Year’s Day. There likely will be six next season.

Toronto and Detroit will meet at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Jan 1, the Anaheim Ducks will play the Los Angeles Kings at Dodger Stadium on Jan. 5 and the Chicago Blackhawks will host the Pittsburgh Penguins at Soldier Field on March 1.

The games at Yankee Stadium were announced Wednesday. A game between Ottawa and Vancouver at BC Place on March 2 also is being planned.

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Bergevin led the Canadiens to the Northeast Division title and a No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs in his first season as an NHL general manager. Montreal, 28th last season in the 30-team NHL, was the league’s most improved team before being ousted by No. 7 Ottawa in the postseason’s first round.

Bergevin hired Michel Therrien as head coach and added defenseman Francis Bouillon and forwards Brandon Prust and Colby Armstrong to the roster. He also acquired forward Michael Ryder in a midseason trade.

Murray helped guide Anaheim to its best regular-season finish in franchise history. The Ducks won the Pacific Division and earned the No. 2 seed in the West, but they were eliminated by No. 7 Detroit in a Game 7 loss at home on Sunday night.

Shero made key additions to an already-strong Penguins roster throughout the lockout-shortened year that helped propel the Penguins to their first Atlantic Division title since 2008 and the No. 1 seed in the East.

He obtained center Brandon Sutter and goalie Tomas Vokoun in offseason trades and brought in defenseman Douglas Murray and forwards Jarome Iginla, Brenden Morrow and Jussi Jokinen before the trade deadline.

The Penguins eliminated the New York Islanders in six games in the first round of the playoffs and will face Ottawa in the Eastern Conference semifinal series that will begin Tuesday night in Pittsburgh.

Voting for the award was conducted among the 30 club general managers and a panel of NHL executives, print and broadcast media. The winner will be announced during the Stanley Cup finals.

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The Oilers will miss the playoffs for a seventh consecutive season after losing 3-1 to the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday night.

Taylor Hall scored for the Oilers (17-20-7), who have lost seven of their last eight games and were officially eliminated from the playoffs for yet another season. The string of futility stretches back to their loss in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final against the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006.

“To have another season where we’re out of the playoffs, another season where we’re playing meaningless games at the end of the year, is very frustrating,” Hall said. “It’s something we’re not proud of.”

Oilers captain Shawn Horcoff, who has been with the team for the entire seven years, said it hasn’t been an easy process.

“It’s tough, it’s been extremely tough on me,” he said. “We made some steps and at least this year we got some meaningful games in, gave ourselves a chance to get in, but it fell off as of late.

“I think we’re moving in the right direction. It’s just a little slower than we’d like.”

It was a badly-needed victory for the Ducks (28-11-6), who got goals from Cam Fowler, Kyle Palmieri and Corey Perry to help the team snap a four-game losing skid and move closer to clinching the Pacific Division crown.

“It was a step closer to where we want to be,” said Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf. “There are still mistakes that we need to eliminate going into the playoffs, but this was a much-needed win tonight and one that I felt we deserved. It’s all about playing the right way going into the playoffs. This was a step in the right direction.”

The Ducks can clinch the division with another win over the Oilers in the rematch in Edmonton on Monday.

“It’s great to have a win again after what has been happening for the last little while,” said Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller, who stopped 27 shots. “We knew that we needed to play better, but sometimes it is not that easy. Tonight I think that everybody worked a little harder and that made the difference.”

Edmonton had a quick start, scoring exactly one minute in when Hall notched his 15th of the season as he came in off the boards to beat Ducks starter Jonas Hiller between the legs with a wrist shot from the right face-off dot.

The Ducks evened it up with just 1.1 seconds remaining in the period as Oilers center Jerred Smithson broke his stick on the faceoff and Fowler was able to pick up a rebound and bank in his first of the year off goalie Devan Dubnyk’s pads.

Anaheim took a 2-1 lead with just under a minute to play in the second period when Palmieri tried to get a pass through to Teemu Selanne on a 2-on-1, but the pass was blocked by a diving Ladislav Smid. However, Palmieri was able to dig the puck out from under Smid and deposit his 10th of the year behind Dubnyk.

The Ducks went up 3-1 midway through the third when Ryan Getzlaf made a great move to walk around Smid and then sent a backhand pass in front for Perry, who had an easy tap-in for the goal.

The Ducks hit the post twice with Dubnyk pulled for the final two minutes.

Game notes

It was the second of three meetings between the two teams this season. Anaheim came in as the winners of their last nine in Edmonton and 12 of the last 14 meetings overall. … The Oilers announced Sunday that 2011 first overall draft pick Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is out for the remainder of the season as he likely requires shoulder surgery. … Edmonton Fs Ales Hemsky (foot), Eric Belanger (groin) and Lennart Petrell (leg) are also probably done for the year. … Anaheim was missing Luca Sbisa (upper body) and D Sheldon Souray (lower body).

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“I don’t want to say no, but we’ll see [Monday],” Quenneville said of the two players after Saturday’s practice at Johnny’s IceHouse West.

More On The Blackhawks

For all the latest on the Blackhawks, check out Scott Powers’ blog on ESPNChicago.com. Blog

Forward Viktor Stalberg missed practice Saturday, but he is likely to play on Sunday, according to Quenneville. Stalberg was struck in the face by a puck in the third period of Friday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks and did not return.

Hossa has missed four games since suffering an unspecified upper-body injury against the Colorado Avalanche on March 18. He has 13 goals and 10 assists in 28 games this season.

Sharp has missed nine games since suffering an unspecified upper-body injury, also against the Avalanche, on March 6. He has five goals and 13 assists in 24 games this season.

Hossa and Sharp participated in their first full practice on Saturday. They weren’t allowed contact previously.

“It’s another step in returning,” Sharp said. “I felt fine doing the contact stuff. I’m sure there will be more of that in the next few days and hopefully come back soon.”

Sharp said he was close to returning, but it was important to be completely healthy when he plays again.

“It’s still not 100 percent,” Sharp said. “I think the idea is to come back and have the injury completely behind you not only mentally, but physically more than anything. Just to know I can take hits to the upper body and be fine, so you don’t have to keep tweaking it and addressing it all through playoffs and end of the season.”

Hossa also said he had to be patient in his return despite his desire to be out on the ice helping the team.

“Obviously when the team loses, you feel like you [could] try to help,” Hossa said. “But like I said, you don’t want to rush things with this type of injury because you can get hurt again, and you’ll be more out than you wanted to be.”

The Blackhawks have gone 4-5 without Sharp and 2-3 without Hossa this season. The Blackhawks are 20-0-3 with both players in the lineup this season.

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