Preview: Ducks Fly North for Canadian Trek, Battle Flames Tonight in Calgary

The Ducks will head north of the border of the start of a two-game divisional road trip, tonight taking on the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome.

PUCK DROP: 6:30 P.M. PT | WHERE TO WATCH | AUDIO: DUCKS STREAM | NHL GAMECENTER

Anaheim hits the road after completing a five-game homestand at 3-2-0, including a dramatic 4-3 shootout victory over the rival San Jose Sharks two nights ago at Honda Center. The Ducks went ahead 3-1 in the first period that night on multi-point efforts from each of Sam Colangelo, Trevor Zegras and Mason McTavish, and ultimately held off the Sharks comeback bid on McTavish's shootout winner.

"I love doing them," McTavish said of his shootout goal with a smile. "I think they are really fun. Credit to [Lukas Dostal]. Me, [Trevor Zegras, Cutter Gauthier and Leo Carlsson] are all out there with him and we do a lot of them. He always likes to work on it too, so it’s something we all work on [together]."

Dostal turned aside 28-of-31 San Jose shots and then stopped all three shootout attempts for his career-best 22nd win of the season.

"He’s been great," head coach Greg Cronin said. "He’s a great athlete and he’s in great shape. He can handle it...In the second period he was under siege and he did a great job."

With the win, Anaheim improved to 33-33-8 on the season, 15 points back of a playoff position with just eight games still to play. However, the Ducks are now on pace for a 23-point improvement in the standings this season, projected to be the second-biggest rise in the NHL.

"You can’t really control what all other teams are doing and whatnot," Zegras said. "You just focus on what we’re doing as the Anaheim Ducks. I think the goal for the rest of the season is to finish with a winning record and I think that’s all something that we’re getting behind."

Zegras, Colangelo and McTavish carried the Anaheim offense prior to the shootout, marking another game where the club's scoring came from its key young players. Anaheim leads the NHL this season in goals and points by players aged 22-and-under.

The Ducks now fly north for a battle with the Flames, looking to flip the script on what has been a Calgary-led season series so far. Calgary has claimed a 3-2 OT victory and a 4-1 win over Anaheim so far this year, and enters play tonight looking to keep its own dimming playoff hopes still alive.

“There's no time to be giving up wins at this time of year,” Flames forward Joel Farabee told NHL.com's Matt Komma after a 3-1 loss to Utah on Tuesday. “It stinks, but you can't dwell on it. You just got to focus on tomorrow. That's all you can really do.”

“I thought we had a good push in the third period,” added coach Ryan Huska. “I felt like once the emotion came into the game with some of the scrums in the second period, that's when our game got better.”

Calgary (35-27-12, 82 points) sits fourth in the Pacific Division, seven points back of a Wild Card berth.