Preview: Ducks Hit Season's Midway Point Tonight vs. Oilers

The Ducks officially begin the second half of the regular season and host the penultimate game of a franchise-record 10-game homestand tonight, taking on the division rival Edmonton Oilers at Honda Center.
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For Anaheim, it's a chance to turn the page on a disappointing performance Sunday night in a
7-1 loss to the Boston Bruins
that dropped the club to 3-4-1 on the homestand.
"The mistakes we made were big ones," head coach Dallas Eakins said. "Through two periods, it's 4-1 and we made maybe five mistakes and three of them end up in our net. We can't make those mistakes. We put our team, we put our goaltender, we put everybody in a tough situation."
"We worked hard [in practice] Tuesday and guys had the right attitude," Kevin Shattenkirk added. "We certainly know that we didn't give our best Sunday but we have to look at games before that, the Dallas game we played and Vegas a few before that, to remember we have put some good product on the ice. We want to make sure we make that Bruins game a fluke by performing tonight."
Anaheim's lineup will include some changes as forward Max Jones appears to be nearing a return to action after skating with the team at practice Tuesday.
"Get his feet back underneath him," Eakins said of Jones' potential return. "The biggest thing for him will be the rhythm of the game and trying not to do too much. We'll try to control his ice time the best we can but Jonesy's game is a simple one. He needs to skate. He needs to be physical and he needs to be direct. That's it. I'm sure he'll do that."
The Ducks will again be without forward Justin Kirkland, who continues to recover from a car accident suffered Sunday on the way to Honda Center to play against the Bruins. Kirkland was released from the hospital Tuesday.

"Initially we got a pretty positive report, on the day of the game, that he was at least stable and under care," Shattenkirk said. "We're just happy he's safe and healthy, and nothing too serious happened. Those moments are scary."

"He's in good spirits," Eakins said. "He's communicating with his teammates and things like that.
"It put a good scare into all of us and, at the same time, reinforced a lot of things we speak about here, not about hockey. Being grateful, trying to win the day with our relationships at home. You just never know when you could find yourself in a terrible, terrible situation."
The Ducks will face an Oilers team looking to get back on track after a frustrating night of their own, a 6-3 loss Monday night to the Kings.
"I thought 5-on-5 we were getting some looks, but we ran into penalty problems, and we essentially lost the game on special teams,"
Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins told NHL.com's Derek Van Diest
. "Usually we're putting some in on the power play], but tonight, we couldn't find it. I think they got four on theirs, and it's tough to win a game when you're giving up four like that, other than us matching it on the power play."
Armed with the league's first and second leading scorers in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the Oilers are again among the game's best offenses, currently fifth in goals per game.
"Number one, we can't take any penalties," Eakins said. "Their power play is the deadliest one in the league.
"We're going to have to be extremely careful and diligent with the puck. That's been our biggest sore lately is we have the puck in possession in the offensive zone and we suddenly give it away for no reason at all. When we have the puck in our defensive zone on the breakout, we're giving it away. Those are hard to defend. So we're really going to have to manage the puck well."
[Anaheim earned a 4-3 victory in the first meeting
of a four-game season series with Edmonton, last month at Rogers Place. Filling in for the injured John Gibson and Anthony Stolarz, rookie netminder Lukas Dostal made 46 saves that night, helping the Ducks protect a one-goal lead in the third period.

"It's playing smart and making sure that when we take our chances, our forwards know they have to backcheck hard," Shattenkirk said. "We've got to limit their time and space as best we can. [McDavid and Draisaitl] are certainly special players. They make everyone around them great. You have to give them the utmost respect on the ice but play them hard and play them honest."
The Oilers (21-18-3, 45 points) sit fifth in the Pacific Division, currently tied with St. Louis for the Western Conference's second and final Wild Card position.