The Ducks began the season's final extended road trip splitting a back-to-back against the Flyers and Hurricanes, earning
a 5-3 win in Philadelphia
before dropping
a 5-2 contest in Raleigh
.
Anaheim is 29-33-12 on the season, sixth in the Pacific Division, with eight games remaining on the regular-season schedule.
The Ducks welcomed Ryan Getzlaf back into the lineup in Carolina after the captain missed four games with a lower-body injury. Getzlaf, who last week
announced his intention to retire
at the end of the season, will play his final NHL game on April 24 at Honda Center.
Tickets are on sale now.
The Panthers won the first meeting with the Ducks earlier this season, a 3-0 victory last month at Honda Center. Jonathan Huberdeau scored twice that night to lead Florida offensively, while 20-year-old netminder Spencer Knight stopped all 17 Anaheim shots to earn his first career NHL shutout.
Huberdeau was named the NHL's Third Star of the Week yesterday after posting seven points in three games. He paces NHL leaders in assists (77) and ranks second in points (104).
The Panthers were maybe the league's most aggressive team at the NHL Trade Deadline, sending first round picks to both Montreal and Philadelphia in separate deals that brought Ben Chiarot and Claude Giroux to South Florida.
Chiarot, a 30-year-old defenseman, has five points in first 10 games as a Panther and has taken on an increased role in the absence of Florida's top blueliner, Aaron Ekblad. Giroux played exactly 1,000 games as a Flyer before his trade and left Philadelphia second in club history in games played, points (900) and assists (609), and eighth in goals (291).
Florida (51-15-9) leads the Atlantic Division, with an eight-point lead on second-place Toronto, and has already set a franchise a record for points in a season.
